You are here because of a single, all-important enzyme. But don’t look inward to find ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, known more mercifully among scientists as rubisco. Instead, look to the food you eat and the trees that manufacture oxygen, as this is the protein that makes photosynthesis possible. Without it, life on...
Trump EPA moves to repeal regulation of cancer-linked chemical ethylene oxide
Many medical devices need to be sterile to be used safely. But sterilizing a pacemaker, catheter, or other device with steam or heat could damage its structural integrity. So medical device manufacturers turn to the chemical compound ethylene oxide, which is highly effective at killing microbes at low concentrations and...
In rural West Texas, renewable energy brings a windfall for seniors
In the far corner of the Crockett County Senior Center, 75-year-old Cynthia Flores almost always has a puzzle going. She and her friends sort colors and look for edge pieces while they gossip — “faster than the telephone” — in the Tex-Mex blend of Spanish and English they grew up...
The secret superpower of Brazil’s vast savanna
You’ve heard of the Amazon rainforest, but have you heard of its neighbor, the cerrado? It’s a vast savanna — the most biodiverse in the world — of swaying grasses punctuated by trees. But its most remarkable feature, and its climate superpower, is hidden underground within its wetlands: concentrated carbon...
The planet is overheating. Why is the news looking away?
Scientists are pretty sure that Earth is hotter than at any time in the last 125,000 years, but the news media is moving on, trying to keep on top of a fire hose of pressing news — from the daily chaos of the Trump administration to the breaking developments in...
The war in Iran could plunge the world into hunger
Up until the end of February, a steady flow of ships bound for destinations across the world would pass daily through the Strait of Hormuz. A narrow channel running between Oman and Iran, the waterway serves as the only natural maritime link between the Persian Gulf and the global economy....
As gas prices soar, Trump is ignoring the lessons of the last oil crisis
During the infamous oil embargo of 1973, when the world’s petroleum-producing countries stopped exporting to the United States during the Yom Kippur War, the effects on the U.S. were disastrous. Gasoline prices jumped by almost 50 percent, gas stations had to ration fuel, and lines at the pump snaked for...
The feds pulled $1.5B from tribal clean energy. Tribes are finding another way.
Across tribal nations, hosting a convening with dinner and a tour of an ambitious new project is a familiar scene. But for David Harper, a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribes and CEO of the newly created tribal energy financing organization Huurav, a recent gathering felt different. Last week,...
Ocean speed limits protect endangered right whales. Trump wants to weaken them.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and WABE, Atlanta’s NPR station. Since 2008, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, has imposed speed restrictions on ships 65 feet and longer when they pass through areas that North Atlantic right whales frequent in order to protect...
The US barely bothers to track geoengineering. What could go wrong?
People have tried to manipulate the weather for thousands of years, whether through magic, superstition, or science. In the 1840s, one schoolteacher suggested that the United States regulate the climate by setting massive, weekly forest fires. Fifty years later, researchers were trying to “shock” rain out clouds with cannon fire,...