Articles by Grist staff

Bad air stripping months off Mexicans’ lives, says study

Once upon a time in Mexico, a study estimated that residents would live 2.4 months longer on average if the air they breathe wasn’t so smoggy. According to the research, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, cleaning up Mexicans’ drinking water and household fuels as well could increase their life expectancy […]

Reliance on coal ain’t cheap, study says

A new study from Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund has found that China’s dependence on coal to fuel its economy cost the country some $248 billion last year in hidden expenses, including health care costs and environmental damage. “Recognizing the true cost of coal would create incentives to developing cleaner, sustainable energy sources,” said […]

Thefts of nuclear material worldwide ‘disturbingly high’

The number of reports of stolen nuclear material worldwide last year was “disturbingly high,” according to Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency. All together, nearly 250 such thefts were reported last year, with the main concern that the nuclear material could end up in so-called “dirty bombs.”

Climate treaties likely to be too little, too late to save world’s reefs, study says

The successor to the international Kyoto climate-change treaty will likely do too little, and emissions reductions will be too late to save the world’s coral reefs from the ravages of global warming, according to a cheery new study by U.S. researchers. Even if the world’s nations agree to meet the ambitious emissions targets favored by […]