Reporting on environmental stories often leads to the state legislature, where key material can be frustratingly hard to access. Whether that’s because the state is deliberately hiding information, has poor systems for sharing it or isn’t even tracking it, there are ways to get what you need. Four seasoned environment reporters offer tips, tricks and commiseration.
The Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources invites journalists to apply by Nov 3 for this virtual workshop, Nov 13-14, 2023, exploring how Tribes and First Nations are joining discussions over environmental policy and resource management – and the challenges and opportunities TEK can bring to conservation and restoration efforts.
If you’re harboring serious doubts about the climate future but want to be prepared to cover it, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox offers up a seasonably ghoulish list of a dozen and a half great visualization sources to help tell the story. And lest it leave you spooked, remember, as the saying goes, everything will be OK in the end. And if it's not OK, it's not the end.
"When it comes to packing on the pounds to survive an Alaska winter, this year’s undisputed champ is Grazer."
"Changes in the climate and land use are combining to dramatically shrink the numbers of insects pollinating key tropical crops. As those problems interwine and intensify, it likely will hit coffee lovers right in the mug, according to a new study."
"As a health worker in South Sudan, Night Stella Elias sees from year to year how rising temperatures are adding to the dangers faced by pregnant women and their babies."
"Thick smoke has enveloped extensive areas of the Brazilian Amazon on Thursday as the region grapples with a surge in wildfires and a historic drought."
"Even after a mail carrier’s recent death, the company continues to violate its own rules."
"Waste from the oil and gas industry contains toxic and radioactive substances. Disposal of this waste is supposed to be carefully tracked, but 800,000 tons of oil and gas waste from Pennsylvania oil and gas wells is unaccounted for, according to a recent study."
"The coming surge in photovoltaic panel waste is tiny compared to other categories, and most health concerns about solar equipment are unfounded."
Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/features/prying-open-statehouse-doors
[2] https://www.sej.org/calendar/deadline-ijnr-virtual-workshop-traditional-ecological-knowledge
[3] https://www.sej.org/publications/reporters-toolbox/here-s-your-handy-doomsday-dataviz-dashboard
[4] https://www.sej.org/headlines/mama-bear-grazer-easily-wins-popular-fat-bear-contest-alaska-park
[5] https://apnews.com/article/alaska-brown-bears-fat-contest-afa9de13cf8dc98fe2f5499a6a0f6d02?utm_source=RecoReel&utm_medium=articlePage&utm_id=Taboola
[6] https://www.sej.org/headlines/warming-and-habitat-loss-shrink-pollinator-numbers-threaten-coffee-cocoa
[7] https://apnews.com/article/pollinators-bees-climate-change-coffee-chocolate-5d92dd9e8a9abb6b5614ad873ce7f24e
[8] https://www.sej.org/headlines/extreme-heat-risks-rise-pregnant-women-and-babies
[9] https://www.reuters.com/article/global-climate-change-women/rpt-extreme-heat-risks-rise-for-pregnant-women-and-babies-idINL8N3BG4CB
[10] https://www.sej.org/headlines/amazon-forest-millions-breathe-hazardous-air-wildfires-spread
[11] https://apnews.com/article/brazil-amazon-air-pollution-drought-wildfires-climate-b935e7587931988f5b7a44f9833cda8c
[12] https://www.sej.org/headlines/usps-falsifying-safety-docs-its-workers-die-heat
[13] https://www.texasobserver.org/usps-worker-heat-death-safety/
[14] https://www.sej.org/headlines/800000-tons-radioactive-waste-pennsylvania-drilling-goes-missing
[15] https://www.ehn.org/fracking-radioactive-waste-2665813762.html
[16] https://www.sej.org/headlines/reality-check-about-solar-panel-waste-and-effects-human-health
[17] https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12102023/inside-clean-energy-reality-check-solar-panel-waste/
[18] https://www.sej.org/search_results
[19] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=755
[20] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=752
[21] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=753
[22] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=754
[23] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=757
[24] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=758
[25] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=759
[26] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=760
[27] https://www.sej.org/search_results?page=5027