Reporters Toolbox

Environmental reporters can prepare for possible rail accidents involving hazardous materials — like the one that hit East Palestine, Ohio — by having a keener understanding of what hazmat may be regularly carried through their communities. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox guides you to helpful lists of dangerous substances while offering a rundown of nearly a dozen-and-a-half of the worst offenders and their risks.

Abandoned oil and gas wells are found in significant numbers in some 27 states. Reporters who want to track their status can dig into several databases, but will need to support their data crunching with lots of shoe-leather and ground-truth reporting. Reporter’s Toolbox has insights into what the databases offer. Plus, a primer on API numbers.

In the wake of the train derailment and toxic spill in Ohio, now is a good time for environmental journalists to be ready for the next such accident. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers up a data source for another transportation risk — hazardous materials transported via highway. Plus, why rail hazmat data can be trickier to access.

Findings from scientific research provide many a news lead on the environment beat, and even reporters not closely attuned to the world of scientific journals can use them to find stories. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers up one key: indexes. They can guide you to abstracts and free versions of otherwise costly publications. A list of indexes to try. Plus, a half-dozen other pro tips.

Instrumentation on the International Space Station that gathers 3-D images of forest canopies and other environmental data is scheduled to soon be junked. But the move is provoking an outcry from scientists and pushback from some politicians. Reporter’s Toolbox examines what the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation does and how journalists might make use of it, while it lasts.

Biodiversity is on the minds of many this week as international biodiversity treaty talks take place in Montreal. For environmental journalists covering the topic, there are a number of databases readily available that track endangered species in the United States and globally. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox has a helpful list. Plus, visit our new biodiversity “Topics on the Beat” page and keep on top of the latest biodiversity headlines with EJToday.

A new way for journalists to get more accurate numbers on global greenhouse gas emissions was introduced by former Vice President Al Gore at the recent United Nations’ climate change gathering in Egypt. Reporter’s Toolbox looks under the hood of Climate Trace, which is the result of work by more than 100 collaborators and compiles data from some 300 specialized satellites and 11,000 sensors.

A new data mapper that allows users to track bird migrations is a cache of ideas for journalists looking to illustrate the connections between birds, habitats and human activity. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox takes a (non-geeky) look at the Bird Migration Explorer, how to best use it and the range of story possibilities it may yield.

Data specialists working with two databases, one familiar and one little-known, have uncovered how companies may be able to hide releases of the family of toxic PFAS chemicals. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox details the data revelation and explores how journalists may make use of the Chemical Data Reporting service’s datasets for their own stories.

A new global fossil fuels registry sounds like a breakthrough for covering climate change and energy stories. But Reporter’s Toolbox inspected it and found potentially problematic data sourcing and accuracy. That doesn’t mean that it won’t be useful as one of several tools to help report the beat. Here’s how to make the most of fossil fuel data sources.