Zoya Teirstein
@zteirstein.bsky.social
Climate change + human health reporter @Grist. Opinions expressed here belong to my mom. Signal: zoyateirstein.58
With all the July model runs now in, it is very likely that 2026 will see the largest El Niño event since records began in the late 1800s – and potentially by a truly mind-blowing margin. The median estimate is now 3.6C, roughly 0.8C hotter than the prior record (2.75C). www.theclimatebrink....
Late to the publication of this piece because I'm out on sabbatical, so in case you ALSO missed @zteirstein.bsky.social's masterful overview of the climate × health intersection for @grist.org, it is here: grist.org/article/how-... Watch this space! Rumor has it Zoya has a book brewing...
How climate change gets under the skin
What we know, so far, about the lasting effects of climate change on your health and the body’s vital systems.
grist.org
"Not preparing for wildfire smoke is a policy choice." Tremendous reporting by @zteirstein.bsky.social grist.org/health/wildf...
Wildfire smoke engulfed their cities. Did it make their babies sick?
Years wildfire scares, parents are left wondering if their children's chronic illnesses began with what was in the air before they were born.
grist.org
There was some concern that export figures in March 2026 may have been higher because of expiring tax rebates. But April figures out now and the world continues to want Chinese solar panels, batteries, and electric cars in record amounts. www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202... 🎁🔗
MAHA? NAH Trump’s EPA Vows to Fight ‘Forever Chemicals’ by … Loosening Regulations. “It seems like they have largely adopted the positions of the chemical industry.” by @zteirstein.bsky.social www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Trump's EPA Vows to Fight 'Forever Chemicals' by … Loosening Regulations
Donald Trump and his administration say they're “completely committed” to removing forever chemicals, but they're loosening restrictions on them.
rollingstone.com
Wildfire smoke engulfed their cities. Did it make their babies sick? Reporting by @zteirstein.bsky.social & Jess Davis. grist.org/health/wildf...
Wildfire smoke engulfed their cities. Did it make their babies sick?
Years wildfire scares, parents are left wondering if their children's chronic illnesses began with what was in the air before they were born.
grist.org
"Parents are left wondering whether asthma, developmental delays, and other health problems suffered by their children began with what was in the air before they were born — and whether it’s safe to raise a family in a place where every summer brings the same threat back to their doorsteps."
Wildfire smoke engulfed their cities. Did it make their babies sick?
Years wildfire scares, parents are left wondering if their children's chronic illnesses began with what was in the air before they were born.
grist.org
A/C can be a life-saver, but it's also a technology of forgetting. Forgetting how we built cool buildings in hot places for thousands of years. Wind towers, dog trot homes, even just transoms above doors to let heat escape rooms. (lots more in ch. 11, The Heat Will Kill You First)
Philip Oldfield@sustainabletall.bsky.social · 2mo ago92% of British homes will overheat in summer by 2050. Is air-conditioning part of the solution? Absolutely. But let’s not forget the passive elements that can assist us using *far less* air-conditioning and lower bills. External shading. Greenery. Reflective roof coatings.
A year ago I warned what would happen if the US tore down our disease detection system around the world With Hantavirus & Ebola we are seeing VERY clearly what we’ve lost And why it matters Read my @theatlantic.com piece from last year outlining what happened www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Diseases Are Coming
Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn government tear will have lasting effects on global health.
theatlantic.com
“After Britain abolished slavery on 1 August 1834, £20m was paid in compensation to enslavers for loss of their “property”. The enslaved people themselves received nothing.”
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3mo agoUK stole 25 million years of life and labour through slavery in Barbados, research finds
I went to a small fishing town in west Florida to talk to shellfish growers about vibrio vulnificus, more commonly known as “flesh-eating bacteria.” As conditions for outbreaks ripen, shellfishers and scientists have vastly different views on how to protect the public. grist.org/health/vibri...
A deadly bacteria is creeping up the Atlantic Coast. How worried should you be?
Warming ocean waters are priming beaches and raw shellfish for Vibrio. Scientists are trying to stay one step ahead.
grist.org
This was a tough one to write, and I took a bit of a personal risk sharing my own career-long process of discovery from tentatively swayed by the potential for deep-sea mining to convinced that we are simply not ready.
Andrew D Thaler@drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 4mo agoThe only thing inevitable in the deep sea is discovery. Deep-sea wildernesses are more important than the promise of seafloor mining. news.mongabay.com/2026/04/deep...
Sounds of silence: study finds declining bird populations in North America. "...it’s even worse when that loss is stronger with each year, because eventually you will get to the point of no population left.” @sarahkaplan48 @washingtonpost wapo.st/4cRKORA
North American birds are dying off faster. It signals a human crisis, too.
The accelerating decline of birds is a bellwether of far deeper biodiversity crisis — one that threatens not only beloved species but the humans who live alongside them.
wapo.st
the US coal mining industry employees ~50k people. For some perspective, The Gap has about 82,000 employees
Olga Nesterova@onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 6mo agoTrump and his “Champion of Coal” award.
There is no evidence that vaccines cause autism, but there is growing research that shows a link between wildfire smoke exposure in pregnant mothers and autism diagnoses. Two studies published in the last month indicate wildfire smoke has profound neurological impacts: grist.org/health/growi...
Growing evidence points to link between autism and wildfire smoke
Two new studies have identified an alarming connection between exposure to wildfire smoke during pregnancy and autism in young children.
grist.org
The Washington Post’s decision to cut a large share of its climate and environmental reporters is not just a newsroom story; it reflects a broader weakening of the institutions that sustain a shared, reliable public record on complex and contested issues. news.mongabay.com/2026/02/what...
What is lost when environmental coverage is cut
Word that the Washington Post would be cutting roughly one-third of its staff spread quickly this week. Among those affected were at least a dozen reporters, editors, and visual journalists covering c...
news.mongabay.com
"The relative fragility of Trump’s assault on bedrock environmental and climate laws could be a product of the president’s prioritization of political dominance over lasting change." Great and surprisingly encouraging piece by @zteirstein.bsky.social for @grist.org grist.org/politics/how...
How permanent is Trump's assault on climate action?
Trump’s attacks on bedrock environmental and climate laws are inherently fragile — and could reflect the president’s preference for political dominance over lasting change.
grist.org
I've attended many climate COPs over the years and it seems some nations... *cough* ...are very well versed indeed in this now-declassified "Simple Sabotage Field Manual" first issued by the CIA in 1944
Scientists were frustrated by a piece in the Guardian earlier this week that seemed to call into question the science on microplastics in the body. I wrote about why researchers are certain microplastics are in the human body -- and what we still don't know: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
A scientist questioned new microplastics findings. Then other researchers fired back.
A prominent scientist criticized microplastics research methods. Others are defending the work.
washingtonpost.com
Variations in annual dengue intensities are explained by temperature anomalies Our new work led by Abbey Porzucek, @rafalpx.bsky.social, @colincarlson.bsky.social, Dan Weinberger to develop a method to compare relative dengue intensity between years and countries. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...
Good story on what happened in Tehran and why the politically difficult thing to do is almost always the way out.
Eliza Barclay @elizabarclay.bsky.social · 8mo agoPleasure to work with @peterfrankopan.bsky.social on this piece: "the lesson from the past is not that cities must simply find more water, but that they must also confront their limits." www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/o...
Global temperature projected to hit 1.7C in 2027, according to @drjamesehansen.bsky.social et al, boosted by a return of El Niño #climatecrisis (PDF) www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailin...
columbia.edu
On the 10th Anniversary of the Paris climate agreement, a chilling paragraph from the negotiated final outcome of the 30th Conference of the Parties in Brazil last month: a request for nations to start counting their dead.
Propublica doing what the government won’t: disease surveillance.
Nat Lash@natlash.bsky.social · 9mo ago6/ The simulation showed that where the wind blew, the virus followed. In the first few weeks of the virus’ spread, I found that farms downwind were 20x as likely to see outbreaks.
The final plenary here in Belém just fell apart after Colombia registered an objection over lack of fossil fuel phaseout language in the final text. “This is not a point of order. It’s an objection.” Do Lago has paused the gaveling to confer with objectors. Stay tuned!
A fire broke out in the pavilion section of #COP30 in Belém this afternoon, forcing an evacuation of the entire conference and the cancellation of meetings today. Source of fire unclear and future of the conference, in its second to last day, also unclear.
So thrilled to share the launch of this new project, Vital Signs, with climate desk readers. @who.int says climate change threatens to erode 50 years of public health gains. What does that look like? We’ll be reporting from five continents. First story in the series: grist.org/health/valle...
In Arizona, a fight against a deadly fungus is under threat from Trump’s health policies
What one Arizona doctor’s quest to stop valley fever says about America’s preparedness for climate-driven disease.
grist.org
Climate Desk@climatedesk.org · 9mo agoIn our latest newsletter, @grist.org senior staff writer @zteirstein.bsky.social shares about the "Vital Signs" series about how climate change is threatening human health. Read the full newsletter here: link.motherjones.com/view/647e4ef...
“How do you do that to people?” one homeowner asked. “How do you insure people in the South, take all of these premiums, and then just belly-up?” Great reporting on insurance industry woes and trickery from @zteirstein.bsky.social | grist.org/economics/in...
They survived the hurricane. Their insurance company didn't.
Hurricane Ida revealed a fragile insurance industry ill-prepared for the consequences of climate change. More than four years later, what's changed?
grist.org
