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.

When engineers reversed the Chicago River, they also upended a hydrologic system that years later required electrification to repel an invasive species threatening a major fishery. This is but one example from the latest book by New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert of the unintended consequences of human actions to dominate nature that may solve one problem only to create another. BookShelf contributor Gary Wilson has a review.

As the economic impacts of climate change intensify, reporting on how individuals are affected, particularly in the Global South, is lagging. Veteran journalist Christine Spolar at The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting details a new initiative to encourage journalists to fill this gap. The story of recent grantees Bhasker Tripathi and Susan Schulman, who have tracked job losses and migrations tied to climate change in India and Iraq.

When it comes to working across boundaries in an academic setting, those who teach journalism may be naturals, tapping as they often can into their experience reporting on those from very different backgrounds and disciplines. EJ Academy’s editor, Bob Wyss, shares his experience with a successful project examining self-driving vehicles and explains why fellow journalism educators may want to give interdisciplinary teaching a try.