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Overfishing, pollution contribute to exponential rise

Oceana divers documenting the state of ecological communities in Cabrera Marine Park along the Mediterranean Coast encountered swarms of jellyfish, with numbers in the thousands, 30 miles south of the area.

On a seamount some 130 meters from the surface, Oceana's unmanned submarine robot revealed especially high concentrations of these jellies that have wreaked havoc along the Mediterranean in years past. Oceana is working to have the area added to the national park.

High concentrations of jellyfish are not a local problem. The same factors that allow jellyfish to "overflourish" in many parts of the world are at play here: Essentially humans are creating a jellyfish wonderland by overfishing and polluting our oceans.

Tracking the nation’s most brilliant up-and-coming health researchers

What’s that you say? Some vaginal spermicides may ease transmission of human papillomavirus (HPV)? Why, what kind of brilliant post doc researcher uncovered that counterintuitive and potentially industry-shaking result? Must […]

Soap Opera

New documentary takes a look at eccentric soap purveyor Dr. Bronner The wackadoo jargon encircling bottles of Dr. Bronner’s organic, animal-friendly soap products is infamous (“ENJOY ONLY 2 COSMETICS, enough […]

Live Earth was a smash hit, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Black Coffeyville That’s a Mighty Full Circular File The Day the Music Lied? Stewards Jolly Stick It Where the Sun […]

Another reason the well-off do well

Here's a story that tracks with older reporting (such as from Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly) about the pernicious social consequences of lead.

Boy, there's a superhero quartet we could really use: Environmental Justice Crusaders, a band with superhuman powers to counteract our pervasive (and worsening) racial and economic segregation that puts the people on the bottom of the socio-economic divide into the places where the better off folks dump their environmental insults.

Look, We Made a Book!

Grist hawks its first book, Wake Up and Smell the Planet Attention Grist fans: we’re pleased to announce that we’re making our first foray into fiber-space. This fall, your favorite […]

Real World: Havana

Cuban conference addresses climate and development This week, an international conference of 800 brains is addressing climate change, environmental education, sustainable development, and other green topics — in Cuba. Yes, […]

Gathering data in the U.S.’ largest temperate rainforest a heroic and necessary task

Hiking part of the Tongass National Forest in southeastern Alaska a few summers ago, I was utterly wowed, but knowing that it accounts for nearly one-third of the old-growth temperate rain forest left in the world seemed incredibly incongruent with the fact that my government was working so hard to wreck it (thanks to some truly absurd subsidies).

An excellent story in the new National Geographic retells the tale and shines light on new efforts aimed at allowing the Tongass to continue its majestic reign, including a heroic grassroots effort of the Sitka Conservation Society to "ground-truth" those parts of the nearly impenetrable Tongass scheduled for the saw. Without SCS and others, this jewel would look mightily different, and they deserve our support and our thanks.

Our Flag Was Still There, Our Daily Grist Not So Much

Grist takes a break for the Fourth of July We hold these truths to be self-evident: that tomorrow is a federal holiday, and that our hardworking headline writers need a […]

Music to Our Ears

Music festivals across the country aim to lessen their footprint Last year’s Bonnaroo music festival produced more than 1 million pounds of waste (and quite a population of wasted fans), […]