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  • Can the Durban climate negotiations succeed?

    Photo: DG EMPL Cross-posted from An Economic View of the Environment. Two weeks of international climate negotiations begin today in Durban, South Africa. These are the Seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP 17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) [PDF]. The key challenge at this point is to maintain the process […]

    Robert Stavins Science

  • Julian Rodriguez-Drix: An organizer whose lectures ruffle feathers

    Grist is proud to present the Change Gang — profiles of people who are leading change on the ground toward a more sustainable society and a greener planet. Some we’ve written about before; some are new to our pages. Some you’ll have heard of; most you probably won’t. Know someone we should add to the […]

    Andrew Leonard Science

  • Prizewinning research: How to fight elephants with bees

    British scientist Lucy King has won a prestigious environmental award for her research, but she should also maybe get a movie deal. The substance of her research is using bees to scare off elephants, which could make an excellent blockbuster, with the addition of a few explosions and maybe a robotic bee carapace. Also, as […]

    Jess Zimmerman Science

  • Great Lakes fish triumph over invaders

    The story of invasive species usually goes something like a particularly dark zombie movie — the invasive species kills everything else and thrives, changing the planet forever. But in the Great Lakes, a different story is playing out, one in which the natives win. In addition to evil zebra mussels, transatlantic shipping has brought a […]

    Sarah Laskow Science

  • Super cute video of penguins released after oil spill cleanup

    If hanging out with the people who know just what a profoundly alone, naked ape you are has got you down, ThinkProgress has the cure for your post-Thanksgiving blues. Since a cargo ship leaked 350 tons of oil in New Zealand — marking the nation’s “most significant environmental maritime disaster” — more than 2,000 seabirds have […]

    Christopher Mims Science

  • Pardoned turkeys go to Disneyland

    Did you know that the turkey pardoned by the president then gets shipped off to Disneyland or Disney World to lead the Thanksgiving parade? (It seems like short notice — maybe they only pardon turkeys who can already twirl a baton.) I didn't, but that's because I haven't thought about turkey pardoning nearly as deeply […]

    Jess Zimmerman Science

  • ‘Lost’ caribou herd was behind the couch the whole time

    The Beverly herd of caribou, 276,000 strong, had apparently vanished off the face of the planet last time scientists surveyed the tundra. Turns out, they just moved. There aren't quite as many of them as there were, but the herd is safe and sound a bit further north and closer to the coast. And now […]

    Jess Zimmerman Science

  • Critical List: Turkeys to be pardoned; Bill O’Reilly can totally get solar if he wants it

    President Obama will pardon two 19-week, 45-pound turkeys from Minnesota today. Their names are Liberty and Peace. It is possible to have Thanksgiving without turkey or turkey-shaped soy loaf. Here are a few ideas for what to serve instead. We're sacrificing holiday time to commercialism for no reason. Longer Black Friday sales don't increase stores’ […]

    Sarah Laskow Science

  • New batch of Climategate emails even lamer than the first

    The hackers who originally leaked the so-called "Climategate" emails (perhaps more accurately called the "Big Fuss Over Nothing" emails) have released a new batch of stolen communication from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit. Now that those involved in "Climategate" have been cleared of all suspicion by multiple independent investigations, climate scientists are […]

    Jess Zimmerman Science

  • We’re on track to kill the planet faster than the worst extinction in history

    Earth has had many mass extinctions, but about 250 million years ago something really, really bad happened. In an event known to paleontologists as "the Great Dying," life itself was nearly extinguished by massive releases of greenhouse gases. And by “massive releases” we mean “releases slower than what we’ve got going on today.” Scientists at […]

    Christopher Mims Science