Articles by Grist staff

Polar warming directly attributed to humans, study says

Warming at both the Earth’s poles has, for the first time, been directly attributed to humans, according to a new study in the journal Nature Geoscience. “[Y]ou see a clear human fingerprint in the observed data,” said researcher Peter Stott. “We really can’t claim anymore that it’s natural variations that are driving these very large […]

Fungus associated with mass bat die-off identified

A cold-weather-loving white fungus associated with huge bat die-offs in the U.S. Northeast has been identified by scientists, but its role in over 100,000 bat deaths in the region is still poorly understood. “Essentially, hibernating bats are getting moldy as they hang from their cave ceiling,” said lead author David Blehert. “It’s decimating the cave-bat […]

Canada P.M. reshuffles cabinet, lumps environment and economy together

Recently reelected Conservative Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper reshuffled his cabinet Thursday, lumping the economy, environment, and energy security together into an environment ministry headed by former Industry Minister Jim Prentice. Harper also declared, “We want to work with the Americans on regulatory systems relating to greenhouse-gas emissions in order that we can work toward […]

Exxon Mobil announces record quarterly profit, again

Exxon Mobil on Thursday announced that it raked in $14.83 billion in its third quarter, breaking its previous record for the highest quarterly profit ever for a U.S. company. John McCain, campaigning in Ohio, declared that “we’re not gonna let that happen” again if he’s president, neglecting to mention that his tax plan would afford […]