Publication Items

Insurance Meltdown a Foreseeable Climate Disaster [1]

Whether fires in California or flooding in North Carolina, climate disasters are revealing a major fault line in U.S. emergency response — a serious insurance shortfall that may lead to financial catastrophe. The new Issue Backgrounder explores the risks of underinsured disasters, the limits to the national flood insurance programs and FEMA aid, and the predictable scapegoating that has created solution gridlock.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [4]
Disasters [5]
Economy & Business [6]
Government [7]
Laws & Regulations [8]
People & Population [9]
Planning & Growth [10]
Policy [11]
Water & Oceans [12]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Insurance Meltdown a Foreseeable Climate Disaster [1]
Communities at Risk Are Climate Stories Too [14]

As environmental journalists scramble to cover dizzying changes in climate and energy policy under the new administration, columnist Yessenia Funes offers an admonition: Do not forget about those whose human rights are being targeted by Trump, and look to connect the changing planet with changes felt by threatened communities. The new Voices of Environmental Justice on exiting the echo chamber.

SEJ Publication Types:
Voices of Environmental Justice [15]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [16]
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Government [7]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [20]
People & Population [9]
Policy [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
International [22]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Communities at Risk Are Climate Stories Too [14]
When Disasters Hit, Nursing Homes Can Be Disasters Waiting To Happen [23]

In any disaster, among the most vulnerable populations are the residents of nursing homes. Yet many communities may simply not be ready to protect them, despite a complex patchwork of state, federal and local regulatory oversight. That means environmental journalists should get on the case, reporting the risk in their locales, advises the latest TipSheet. Insights, plus a dozen story ideas and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [24]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Justice [17]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [20]
People & Population [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [25]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about When Disasters Hit, Nursing Homes Can Be Disasters Waiting To Happen [23]
How Climate Change Complicates the Refugee Crisis [26]

The displacement of populations by climate impacts, while not a new phenomenon in human history, is worsening in the face of global warming’s extreme weather patterns. Yet the extensive international regime to aid refugees doesn’t cover those migrating due to flooding, drought, natural disasters or climate change. Backgrounder considers the implications and how nations will respond to the new realities.

SEJ Publication Types:
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Politics [18]
People & Population [9]
Policy [11]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
California [27]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [28]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [29]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [25]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [30]
International [22]
Mexico [31]
Africa [32]
Antarctica & Arctic [33]
Asia [34]
Central America & the Caribbean [35]
Europe [36]
Middle East [37]
South America [38]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about How Climate Change Complicates the Refugee Crisis [26]
New-Look Landslide Risk Database Captures Potential Human Costs [39]

Susceptibility to landslides is more on the minds of environmental reporters, especially in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which caused hundreds of them. To get a better read on local landslide risk for local stories, Reporter’s Toolbox recommends an enhanced resource from the U.S. Geological Survey, which layers the risk data into easily readable map form.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [40]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Studies [41]
Journalism & Media [20]
People & Population [9]
Science [42]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Northwest (OR WA) [43]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [25]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about New-Look Landslide Risk Database Captures Potential Human Costs [39]
Better Communicating for the Climate [44]

What if the news, instead of inducing fear or anxiety, was rewarding for the brain? That question sparked the creation of a novel, game show–inspired approach to helping journalists unlock new ways of reporting, using healthier, more holistic communication techniques. Drawing on research from neuroscience, community psychology and journalism, “Jourpardy” offers fresh perspectives on how to avoid doom-and-gloom reporting.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [45]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [5]
Journalism & Media [20]
Science [42]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
International [22]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Better Communicating for the Climate [44]
Is Climate Data at Risk From Natural Disasters? [46]

When Hurricane Helene ravaged a swath of the Southeast in September, leaving at least 230 people dead, it also temporarily took out a critical repository of climate data in Asheville, North Carolina. That got Reporter’s Toolbox thinking about the risks to some of the nation’s other important storehouses of environmental information, whether from extreme weather, hackers or politics. Here’s a shortlist.

SEJ Publication Types:
Reporters Toolbox [40]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Politics [18]
Environmental Studies [41]
Government [7]
Science [42]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [47]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [25]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Is Climate Data at Risk From Natural Disasters? [46]
Will Your Local Dam Turn Deadly in the Next Big Storm? [48]

The devastating death toll and damage from Hurricane Helene are a dire warning of the risks of extreme weather and flooding. But one notable hazard is that such flooding may overwhelm any one of the thousands of small, neglected U.S. dams. TipSheet examines the issue and offers more than a dozen story angles and reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [24]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [5]
Infrastructure [49]
Journalism & Media [20]
Laws & Regulations [8]
Water & Oceans [12]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
California [27]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [29]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [25]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Will Your Local Dam Turn Deadly in the Next Big Storm? [48]
Making Sense of Jewish Perspectives on the Climate Story [50]

American Jews are heavily involved in climate action in both the political and civic realms. But current events in Israel and Gaza can make it hard for U.S. journalists to cover environmental stories important to Jews at home or abroad. Jewish freelancer Ethan Brown on differences and synergies between Israeli and American Jewish environmentalism and how to approach stories within each community.

SEJ Publication Types:
Features [45]
Topics on the Beat:
Activism [16]
Chemicals [51]
Climate Change [3]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [52]
Environmental Justice [17]
Environmental Politics [18]
Forests [53]
Government [7]
Journalism & Media [20]
Military [54]
People & Population [9]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [55]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
International [22]
Middle East [37]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about Making Sense of Jewish Perspectives on the Climate Story [50]
What Makes Communities More Survivable in Extreme Heat Events? [56]

When heat waves hit your area, as they did for much of the United States in June, local responses can (and should) go well beyond individual behaviors to address broader area actions — from cool pavements to urban trees. For environmental journalists, that means community-level heat response is an important climate story angle. TipSheet explains, then offers a dozen story ideas, along with reporting resources.

SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [24]
Topics on the Beat:
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [4]
Disasters [5]
Health [19]
Infrastructure [49]
Journalism & Media [20]
People & Population [9]
Region:
National (U.S.) [21]
Visibility:
Public [13]
- Read more about What Makes Communities More Survivable in Extreme Heat Events? [56]

Pages