Just As Climate Change Becomes a Dirty Word In Washington, Natural Disasters Strike [1]

Everything from the social media’s importance to the need for a detailed disaster plan — Robert A. Thomas, professor and director of the Center for Environmental Communication, School of Mass Communication at Loyola University in New Orleans, outlines 17 take-away lessons for journalists.

When covering each type of natural disaster, you'll need to dig into a wide range of human, weather/climate, and geography issues to describe accurately to your audience what the trends are, how prevention and emergency responses might be improved, etc. Here are resources for hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, heat waves, drought, blizzards, and more.
The effects of the 2009-2010 El Niño winter on western shorelines may be an indicator of what could occur more frequently as climate change continues, say researchers from the USGS, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Washington State Department of Ecology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Oregon State University, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Wildfire, hurricanes, recreation, extreme heat, drought, electric brownouts, UV rays and sunscreen, insect-borne disease like West Nile virus, fishing, dead zones, and algal blooms — TipSheet can help you cover these local environmental stories.
Congress still forbids the Congressional Research Service to release publicly reports that taxpayers have paid for. Thanks to groups like the Federation of American Scientists, however, taxpayers can read the reports online despite the charade.

Rarely will you learn from national fire coverage the names of people whose homes the fire has destroyed or threatened. Or what flooding and wildlife loss may follow a fire. That is covered by local media or not at all. Be prepared with these resources to help you.
The spreadsheet covers 676 coal combustion waste impoundments at 240 facilities — making it much easier to cover the issue. After assessing many ponds, EPA rated at least 50 of the ponds as having high hazard potential.
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/sejournal/just-climate-change-becomes-dirty-word-washington-natural-disasters-strike
[2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/features
[3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change
[4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster
[5] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81
[6] https://www.sej.org/publications/sejournal/nuclear-experts-assess-how-well-media-covered-fukushima
[7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/nuclear-power/radiation
[8] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/asia
[9] https://www.sej.org/publications/backgrounders/bp-blowout-lessons-gulf-oil-disaster
[10] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/backgrounders
[11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy
[12] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southeast
[13] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/special-edition-natural-disasters-toolbox
[14] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/tipsheet
[15] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/west-coast-damage-may-presage-future-climate-change-effects
[16] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/sej-offers-resources-covering-summer-stories
[17] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health
[18] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land
[19] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water
[20] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/new-environment-related-crs-reports-available
[21] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/watchdog-tipsheet
[22] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/transportation
[23] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/technology
[24] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government
[25] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/wildfire-key-local-environmental-stories
[26] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest
[27] https://www.sej.org/publications/sejournal/blowout-gulf-bp-oil-spill-disaster-and-future-energy-america
[28] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/bookshelf
[29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business
[30] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/epa-releases-coal-ash-pond-survey-database-form
[31] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/111
[32] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/111?page=36
[33] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/111?page=33
[34] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/111?page=34
[35] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/111?page=35
[36] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/111?page=38
[37] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/111?page=39
[38] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/111?page=40
[39] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/111?page=41
[40] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/%2A/111?page=48
[41] https://www.sej.org/publications/list/Watchdog+TipSheet