Hip hop has been a climate voice for 50 years. Why haven’t more people noticed? – Grist Magazine

Hip Hop Graffiti (CC BY-SA 4.0 via Pxfuel).

“People have spent time bobbing their heads to our stories of this despair and not seeing it as a call to action…”
Hip hop’s relationship to the environment, both in terms of lyrics and political activism, goes back to its very beginning, when smoke from apartment fires blackened the skies of the 1970s South Bronx. And yet its role in advocating for climate solutions has largely gone unnoticed…

Using ‘recycled plastic’ in construction materials may not be a great idea after all – Grist Magazine

Asphalt (by katsuuu 44 CC BY-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

Last month, the American Chemistry Council, a petrochemical industry trade group, sent out a newsletter highlighting a major new report on what it presented as a promising solution to the plastic pollution crisis: using “recycled” plastic in construction materials. At first blush, it might seem like a pretty good idea — shred discarded plastic into tiny pieces and you can reprocess it into everything from roads and bridges to railroad ties…

The race to defuse an oil ‘time bomb’ disaster threatening the Red Sea – Grist Magazine

A 1992 file photo of FSO Safer off the coast of Yemen (by Maasmond Maritime/Piet Sinke CC BY-NC-SA 2.0via Flickr).

en days ago, the crew of a ship called the Nautica lifted anchor in Djibouti and motored north in the Red Sea. Two tugboats met the vessel about five and a half miles off the coast of Yemen, then guided it into place alongside the FSO Safer, a crumbling, abandoned oil tanker thought to hold 1 million barrels of crude.

Thus began an operation that’s the ecological equivalent of placing the pin back into a hand grenade…

Replay Boomer – Grist Magazine, Imagine 2200 Climate Fiction Initiative

Teenage Retro (CC0 1.0 Public Domain via PxHere)

Imagine 2200, Grist’s climate fiction initiative, publishes stories that envision the next 180 years of equitable climate progress, imagining intersectional worlds of abundance, adaptation, reform, and hope.

1963
Breakfast is interrupted by a crash that shakes the house to its foundations. Out the window, the wet coastal view is obscured by a spray of dust and foam. Another house has slid into the sea…

Listen: Climate fiction to imagine a better world – the Grist

Outdoor Agriculture in India 2500 (artwork is a supplement to the study "Climate change research and action must look beyond 2100" published in Global Change Biology, Volume 28, Issue 2, John Wiley Online Library, Open Access uploaded by James McKay CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia).

Imagine 2200, Grist’s climate fiction initiative, invites readers and writers to envision equitable climate progress in futures near and far.

In this audiobook collection, immerse yourself in readings of some of our favorite tales we’ve published so far. They tell of finding climate solutions in one’s heritage, the connections between species facing extinction, and finding ways to survive through the power of community.

As Ocean Oxygen Levels Dip, Fish Face an Uncertain Future – Yale Environment 360

Here fishie, fishie...in the Bahamas (by Adventures of KM&G-Morris CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

Global warming not only increases ocean temperatures, it triggers a cascade of effects that are stripping the seas of oxygen. Fish are already moving to new waters in search of oxygen, and scientists are warning of the long-term threat to fish species and marine ecosystems.

ff the coast of southeastern China, one particular fish species is booming: the oddly named Bombay duck, a long, slim fish with a distinctive, gaping jaw and a texture like jelly. When research ships trawl the seafloor off that coast, they now catch upwards of 440 pounds of the gelatinous fish per hour — a more than tenfold increase over a decade ago. “It’s monstrous,” says University of British Columbia fisheries researcher Daniel Pauly of the explosion in numbers…

Plastic bottles harm human health at every stage of their life cycle – the Grist

The German 2012 Coca-Cola line-up (by Like the Grand Canyon CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr).

A new report says beverage companies like Coca-Cola must be “held accountable for the supply chain impacts of their plastics.”

In 1973, a DuPont engineer named Nathaniel Wyeth patented the PET plastic bottle — an innovative and durable alternative to glass. Since then, production has skyrocketed to more than half a trillion bottles per year, driven by beverage companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé…

Dolly Parton’s new song is a climate anthem (if you want it to be) – the Grist

Screenshot from Dolly Parton - World On Fire (From The 58th ACM Awards via youtube).

In the video for her new song, “World On Fire,” Dolly Parton sits atop a burning world. Blond hair piled and coiffed, her black dress glittering, she looks down into a pit of flames burning the earth. The song rocks a little harder than her usual feathery country oeuvre, and over a driving beat, she lets you know she’s about to get political…