Articles by Grist staff

A choice of primary energies: clean coal takes the bronze

Usable electricity doesn’t just appear, but is generated from a pre-existing or primary energy; one of the great decisions of the 21st century will be how we choose to generate electricity. We have established that there are under consideration three main carbon-reduced or carbon neutral “clean” primary energies for electricity: renewable energy, nuclear energy, and […]

Snippets from the news

• Fracture in Greenland glacier concerns scientists. • U.S. Open talks up greenness. • Can veggie oil clean up toxic groundwater? • Ethanol losing its golden reputation. • Is plastic sickening lobsters?

Report identifies areas where natural disasters could hit hardest

Natural disasters made more severe by climate change will hit especially hard in regions with shaky political, economic, and security situations, says a new report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and relief agency CARE International. Vulnerable areas include central Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Sahel; Afghanistan, the […]

Nations gather in Ghana to talk shop on next climate-change accord

Some 1,600 delegates from 160 nations are moving forward on negotiations for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol as they gather this week in Accra, Ghana. The meeting is the third in a series of eight that will culminate in the adoption of a new global climate-change accord in Dec. 2009. “The negotiations need to […]