Articles by Grist staff

Not Just a Fluke

Whale watching has become a booming $1 billion-a-year industry, bringing a new, generally eco-friendly form of income to many cash-strapped areas around the world, according to a report released yesterday by the Massachusetts-based International Fund for Animal Welfare. By 1998, whale watching was going on in about 500 communities in at least 87 countries, up […]

My Sediments Exactly

After years of scientific and legal wrangling, the U.S. EPA began an experiment yesterday off the Palos Verdes Peninsula in California to test whether DDT-contaminated sediments on the ocean floor can be sealed with a layer of mud to protect marine life and people from the pesticide. If it deems the pilot project on 135 […]

Owling in the Wilderness

Ten environmental groups in the Northwest filed suit this month against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, claiming that the agency has not done its duty to protect the northern spotted owl, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The lawsuit contends that the USFWS has allowed logging in critical owl habitat […]

Oh, My Aching Corns

A new scientific study confirms a previous finding that pollen from genetically modified (GM) corn can kill monarch butterfly caterpillars, reigniting a heated debate over whether GM crops should be more strictly regulated. Researchers from Iowa State University found that more than half of monarch caterpillars studied died after being exposed for 48 hours to […]