Discover Magazine’s January 2005 issue features a list of the 100 most important scientific discoveries and developments of 2004. The number one story? Global warming. Called “Turning Point,” the magazine’s three-page feature says that climate change evidence became overwhelming in 2004, and recalls many of the year’s headlines, including Russia’s signing of the Kyoto Protocol, the premiere of the blockbuster movie The Day After Tomorrow, and Schwarzenegger’s vow to defend California’s limits on CO2 emissions. It claims hopefully that “it’s only a matter of time before the rising tide of evidence washes over the last islands of resistance in Washington.” Well, I don’t know about that, but greenies should feel heartened to know that a good number of environmental stories are represented in the top 100. Perhaps someone out there is listening.Environment-related stories in the top 100 and how they stacked up (click on the links to see Grist‘s take):
- Turning Point
- Caution: Farmed Salmon May Cause Cancer
- Man-Made Particles Dim Sun
- Locust Plague Sweeps Across Africa
- Endangered Species Act Reconsidered (Politics)
- Oceans Store Half of Human-Made CO2
- Air Pollution Linked to Genetic Mutations
- China Promises Pollution Cleanup
- Two-Degree Rise Drops Rice Yield By 10 Percent
- Will Your Next Computer Be Powered by Spinach? (Technology)
