Articles by Grist staff

Stacking the Biotech Deck

Back in the 1970s the awesome news that scientists had learned how to redesign genes started a regulatory flurry. Distinguished panels met to ask imponderable questions. Could some human-created form of life carry self-multiplying havoc into the world? How can we prevent such a disaster? Image: Courtesy DOE Human Genome Project. Back then genetic escapes […]

That Really Hits the Spot

We could preserve a sizable chunk of the world’s plant and animal species by protecting a mere 1.4 percent of the earth’s land surface, or 25 biologically rich “hot spots,” says Oxford ecologist Norman Myers. The estimated price tag is $5 billion over 10 years, and efforts are underway to raise the necessary funds. Harvard […]

Deborah Schultz, Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program

Deborah Schultz is the education coordinator for the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program, a watershed restoration program in southeast Louisiana. Monday, 21 Aug 2000 THIBODAUX, La. Today I will travel 20 minutes to Houma to meet with a film crew from CNN that is coming to film local teachers and school children. Just what is CNN […]

Run for It, Santa!

For the first time in perhaps 50 million years, the thick ice covering the North Pole has melted, opening up an ice-free stretch of ocean about a mile wide, according to scientists who recently visited the scene. The melting is being seen by many as further evidence that climate change is upon us. James McCarthy, […]