Articles by Grist staff

Iron Lung

Preliminary research published today in the journal Nature suggests that iron could be dispersed in cold, biologically barren seas near Antarctica to feed large algae blooms that would sop up carbon dioxide from the air and in so doing help fend off global warming. Theoretically, the plants would sink to the ocean bottom, removing CO2 […]

Buying the Farm

California lost almost 70,000 acres to sprawl between 1996 and 1998, fueled by the state’s yearly influx of 700,000 people, according to a biennial report released yesterday by the state Department of Conservation. About two-thirds of the land lost to development was formerly farmland. One citrus farmer, John Gless, said that rising water bills, restrictions […]

Blood Sugar, Sick Tragic

Exposure to herbicides, particularly Agent Orange, a dioxin-containing defoliant used during the Vietnam War, may be associated with the development of diabetes, according to a new report from a panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. The link is “limited and suggestive,” say the scientists, but it’s strong enough that diabetes […]

Thrown for a Loophole

Some enviros say the Clinton administration is proposing “loopholes” in the Kyoto climate change treaty so big that they would let the U.S. get away with doing almost nothing to curb its emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Many crucial decisions on how to implement the treaty will be made next month at an international negotiating […]