The Elephant
A resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
The ElephantA resource for journalists, politicians, policy makers, activists and citizens interested in climate change and the environmental emergency
Visit: grist.org
It's official: US air quality got worse in 2023
2024-03-22 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.When it comes to air quality, neighboring countries are in it together. In 2023, wildfire smoke from across the Canadian border became a primary source of air pollution in major U.S. cities, according to a report released this week. The annual World Air Quality Report by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, showed that […]
How to 'decouple' emissions from economic growth? These economists say you can't.
2024-03-04 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.At least, not fast enough to reach international climate targets.
Tagged under: Degrowth | Economics
Biden’s climate law fines oil companies for methane pollution. The bill is coming due.
2024-02-20 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Recent research suggests that the IRA’s methane fee could batter the oil and gas industry to the tune of more than $1 billion.
Climate change has killed 4 million people since 2000 — and that’s an underestimate
2024-01-30 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.“Nobody is counting it, and nobody is moving in the direction of counting it."
Tagged under: Health
The link between climate change and a spate of rare disease outbreaks in 2023
2023-12-22 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.The temperature-sensitive pathogens that caught U.S. communities off guard are a grim preview of the future.
Tagged under: Health
As climate risks mount, the insurance safety net is collapsing
2023-10-10 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Natural disasters now cost the U.S. insurance industry $100 billion a year. What happens when no one wants to pick up the tab?
Tagged under: Economics | Insurance
The 7 climate tipping points that could change the world forever
2023-08-30 (or before) in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.As the world warms, these Earth systems are changing. Could further warming make them spiral out of control?
Tagged under: Amazon Rainforest | Climate Change | Trees | Tipping Points
The true cost of climate pollution? 44% of corporate profits.
2023-08-28 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Yet governments are still pouring $7 trillion into subsidies for fossil fuels.
Tagged under: Economics | Fossil Fuels
Climate change is coming for your olive oil, too
2023-08-25 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Overall inflation is easing. But heatwaves in Europe have doubled the price of live oil over the past year.
Tagged under: Drought | Climate Change | Heatwaves
On Maui, returning home means confronting toxic risks
2023-08-22 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.A growing body of research has demonstrated that wildfires leave behind a trail of toxic chemicals that can take years to eliminate.
Tagged under: Wildfires
Youth v. Fossil Fuels
2023-06-09 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.In Held v. Montana, 16 youth climate activists argue Montana's enthusiastic support of fossil fuels violates their constitutional rights.
Tagged under: Activism | Fossil Fuels
Should we pull carbon out of the air with trees, or machines?
2023-05-30 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.It’s not as simple as it sounds.
Tagged under: Trees
Is carbon capture viable? In a new rule, the EPA is asking power plants to prove it.
2023-05-12 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.“The EPA is calling the bluff on the power industry.”
Deadly heat threatens the lives and livelihoods of 1 billion people in India
2023-04-24 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Increasingly extreme heat waves will imperil India's development goals and slow economic growth, new research shows
Tagged under: Economic Growth
Rich countries export twice as much plastic waste to the developing world as previously thought
2023-03-13 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Current estimates only cover “the tip of the plastic waste iceberg.”
Starved of new talent: Young people are steering clear of oil jobs
2022-10-18 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Who wants to work for the brands that brought you climate change?
Tagged under: Climate Change
Extreme weather is making mining waste a major problem
2022-06-02 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.New report calls for revamped safety standards as companies race to meet demand for clean energy minerals.
Tagged under: Extreme Weather | Minerals
Study: Climate change is creating disease hotspots
2022-04-28 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.“The coming decades will not only be hotter, but sicker.”
Tagged under: Climate Change | Health
Biden administration moves to restore mercury rules for power plants weakened under Trump
2022-02-01 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.EPA reaffirmed its authority to regulate mercury and other hazardous air pollutants.
Tagged under: Joe Biden | Donald Trump
Native opposition to Nevada lithium mine grows
2021-10-28 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Tribes near the proposed mine at Thacker Pass say they weren't adequately consulted.
Tagged under: Lithium
US regulators: Climate change is a major threat to the economy
2021-10-21 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.In a 133-page report, the Financial Stability Oversight Council noted that climate-fueled disasters are “increasing and already imposing substantial economic costs.”
Tagged under: Climate Change | Economics
Indigenous resistance has cut U.S. and Canada's annual emissions
2021-09-10 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.A new study shows indigenous resistance cut emissions by at least 25%.
What Biden could learn from Bill Clinton's unfinished work on environmental justice
2021-02-24 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions."The boogeyman when you’re fighting systemic racism is implementation."
Tagged under: Joe Biden
Exxon's "emission reduction plan" doesn't pledge to cut emissions
2020-12-15 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.This semantic trick allows oil companies to “cut” emissions and grow them at the same time.
Tagged under: Exxon
How the Kingston coal ash spill unearthed a nuclear nightmare
2020-12-15 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Workers wondered: What happened the night the dredging stopped?
Tagged under: Nuclear Power | Coal
Can we ‘restore’ the climate? These young activists want us to try.
2020-12-11 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.They’re ready to talk about carbon removal. Are you?
Tagged under: Activism
The surprising reasons why people ignore the facts about climate change
2020-07-28 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Two new studies dig into the reasons why people ignore facts about climate change. The takeaway: Evidence alone isn’t enough.
Tagged under: Climate Change
The curse of 'both-sidesism': How climate denial skewed media coverage for 30 years
2020-07-28 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Study finds big newspapers -- including the NYT -- favored arguments against climate action.
A pipeline, a protest, and a polluted past
2020-06-12 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.A small pipeline poses big questions about the future of natural gas in New York.
Tagged under: Electricity Grid
A landmark lawsuit against Big Oil is back from the dead
2020-05-28 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.Will ExxonMobil, Shell, and friends have to pay for seawalls?
Weathercasters are talking about climate change — and how we can solve it
2020-01-28 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.As more weathercasters talk about the science of climate change on the air, some are taking the next step and discussing how to solve it.
Tagged under: Climate Change
U.N. report: 'Human rights might not survive' climate crisis
2019-07-03 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.It's time for human rights defenders to come together on climate action, expert says.
Climate movement grandpa James Hansen says the Green New Deal is 'nonsense'
2019-04-24 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.His solution to climate catastrophe? You may want to sit down for this one: a carbon tax.
Devil's Bargain
2018-02-08 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.We already have planet-cooling technology. The problem is, it’s killing us.
Tagged under: Climate Change | Geoengineering
Mass extinction threatens the world's pollinators — and its crops
2016-02-26 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.A new UN-sponsored study suggests that 40 percent of invertebrate pollinators could go extinct.
None of the world's top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use
2013-04-17 by in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.A sobering new study finds that the world's biggest industries burn through $7.3 trillion worth of free natural capital a year. And it's the only reason they turn a profit.
What is the safe upper limit for atmospheric CO2?
2008-01-01 in Grist.org: Climate. Justice. Solutions.The nation's top climate scientist, NASA's James Hansen, apparently now believes "the safe upper limit for atmospheric CO2 is no more than 350 ppm," according to an op-ed by the great environmental writer Bill McKibben. Yet while preindustrial levels were 280, we're now already at more than 380 and rising 2 ppm a year! Like many people, in the 1990s I believed 550 was the target needed to avoid climate catastrophe -- but now it's clear that: 550 ppm would lead to the greatest disaster ever experienced by human civilization -- returning us to temperatures last seen when sea levels were some 80 feet higher. This is especially tr...
Tagged under: Oceans | Amazon Rainforest | Sea Level
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