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As Climate Change Brings Extreme Heat Events, Human Health Is a Casualty [1]

With heat waves driven by global warming pounding parts of the western United States this summer, environmental journalists mustn’t overlook the toll on especially vulnerable populations, among them disadvantaged groups, the elderly, those in low-income housing and more. The latest Issue Backgrounder helps reporters understand heat’s health effects, track heat-vulnerable populations and clarifies how communities can prepare and prevent the worst public health impacts.

SEJ Publication Types: 
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat: 
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [4]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Justice [6]
Environmental Politics [7]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
People & Population [11]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [12]
Alaska and Hawaii [13]
California [14]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
International [16]
Canada [17]
Europe [18]
Middle East [19]
Visibility: 
Public [20]

"Pacific Northwest Bakes Under Once-In-A-Millennium Heat Dome" [21]

"The heat wave baking the U.S. Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, Canada, is of an intensity never recorded by modern humans. By one measure it is more rare than a once in a 1,000 year event — which means that if you could live in this particular spot for 1,000 years, you'd likely only experience a heat dome like this once, if ever."

Climate Change [3]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [22]
Infrastructure [9]
Science [23]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [12]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Canada [17]
Source: CBS News [24], 06/29/2021

"Portland, Oregon, Sets High-Temperature Record And Seattle Comes Close" [25]

"The Pacific Northwest is baking in a record-breaking heat wave, with an all-time high of 108 degrees Fahrenheit reported Saturday in Portland, Oregon. Along the West Coast, more than 20 million people are under a heat warning or advisory, from the Canadian border to the Mexican border."

Climate Change [3]
Disasters [5]
Environmental Health [22]
Public [20]
National (U.S.) [12]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Source: CNN [26], 06/28/2021

Plan To Raze 4 Dams On California-Oregon Line Clears Hurdle [27]

"A proposal to bring down four hydroelectric dams near the California-Oregon border cleared a major regulatory hurdle Thursday, setting the stage for the largest dam demolition project in U.S. history to save imperiled migratory salmon."

Agriculture [28]
Environmental Politics [7]
Fish & Fisheries [29]
Infrastructure [9]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Water & Oceans [31]
Public [20]
California [14]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Source: AP [32], 06/18/2021

Boom and Bust — Two Books Explore Working-Class Communities in the Clean Energy Transition  [33]

For a clean energy transition to succeed, it almost certainly will have to bring along displaced workers and communities. To help journalists understand the challenges underlying that shift, BookShelf’s Jenny Weeks reviews two volumes. The first is a new memoir of working in North Dakota’s booming Bakken oil fields, the second an earlier account of decline in a working-class community in Oregon.

SEJ Publication Types: 
BookShelf [34]
Topics on the Beat: 
Economy & Business [35]
Energy & Fuel [36]
Environmental Justice [6]
Environmental Politics [7]
Health [8]
People & Population [11]
Policy [37]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [12]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [38]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Visibility: 
Public [20]

Uncovering Inequality’s Roots in Timber Poaching [39]

Journalist Lyndsie Bourgon had covered timber poaching in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade when she decided to expand her scope, heading to the Peruvian Amazon to explore old-growth poaching there. In FEJ StoryLog, she shares the ups and downs of that project, made possible in part by a grant from the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Fund for Environmental Journalism.

SEJ Publication Types: 
FEJ StoryLog [40]
Topics on the Beat: 
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [6]
Environmental Politics [7]
Forests [41]
Journalism & Media [10]
Natural Resources [42]
People & Population [11]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [12]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
International [16]
Canada [17]
South America [43]
Visibility: 
Public [20]

After Exposé, Oregon House Moves To Curb Forest Institute’s Power, Budget [44]

"The Oregon House on Tuesday passed a bill to redirect funding from a tax-funded institute created 30 years ago to inform residents about forestry, after an investigation found that the organization sought to discredit scientists and acted as a lobbying and public relations arm for the timber industry."

Economy & Business [35]
Environmental Politics [7]
Forests [41]
Government [45]
Journalism & Media [10]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Natural Resources [42]
Public [20]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Source: Oregonian/OPB [46], 06/10/2021

"Protecting Workers Exposed To Oregon’s Heat Waves And Wildfire Smoke" [47]

"Oregon is considering ways to protect workers required to labor in extreme weather conditions, which are becoming more common in this age of climate change."

Air [48]
Climate Change [3]
Environmental Health [22]
Environmental Justice [6]
Pollution [49]
Public [20]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Source: OPB [50], 05/18/2021

Ready for Climate Change-Induced Grid Blackouts Along With Heat Waves? [51]

Climate change can mean doubling down on disasters, such as a combination of widespread power outages with the kind of extreme heat that kills. The latest TipSheet explores why such simultaneous disasters are so dangerous, where they’ve happened already, why they are increasingly likely to happen again and how to prepare to cover them in your area.

SEJ Publication Types: 
TipSheet [52]
Topics on the Beat: 
Climate Change [3]
Consumer [4]
Disasters [5]
Energy & Fuel [36]
Environmental Politics [7]
Health [8]
Infrastructure [9]
Journalism & Media [10]
Planning & Growth [53]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [12]
California [14]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [54]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [55]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
International [16]
Europe [18]
Visibility: 
Public [20]

"Feud Breaks Out Among GOP Lawmakers Over Snake River Dams" [56]

"Some Republican members of Congress from the Northwest are accusing a GOP Idaho lawmaker of conducting secret negotiations with the Democratic governor of Oregon over a controversial proposal to breach four dams on the Snake River to save endangered salmon runs."

Energy & Fuel [36]
Environmental Politics [7]
Fish & Fisheries [29]
Laws & Regulations [30]
Natural Resources [42]
Water & Oceans [31]
Public [20]
Northwest (OR WA) [15]
Source: AP [57], 05/07/2021

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Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/backgrounders/climate-change-brings-extreme-heat-events-human-health-casualty [2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/backgrounders [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/consumer [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice [7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health [9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/infrastructure [10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population [12] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [13] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/alaska-and-hawaii [14] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/california [15] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest [16] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international [17] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/canada [18] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/europe [19] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/middle-east [20] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [21] https://www.sej.org/headlines/pacific-northwest-bakes-under-once-millennium-heat-dome [22] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [23] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/science [24] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/heat-wave-dome-2021-seattle-portland-weather/ [25] https://www.sej.org/headlines/portland-oregon-sets-high-temperature-record-and-seattle-comes-close [26] https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/27/us/northwest-heatwave-record-high-temperatures/index.html [27] https://www.sej.org/headlines/plan-raze-4-dams-california-oregon-line-clears-hurdle [28] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/agriculture [29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries [30] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [31] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [32] https://apnews.com/article/california-oregon-dams-science-business-4062e8304fbc622b2771eccca97a5756 [33] https://www.sej.org/publications/bookshelf/boom-and-bust-two-books-explore-working-class-communities-clean-energy [34] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/bookshelf [35] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business [36] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [37] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/policy [38] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-plains [39] https://www.sej.org/publications/fej-storylog/uncovering-inequality-s-roots-timber-poaching [40] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/fej-storylog [41] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests [42] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [43] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/south-america [44] https://www.sej.org/headlines/after-expos-oregon-house-moves-curb-forest-institute-s-power-budget [45] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [46] https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2021/06/after-our-investigation-oregon-house-moves-to-curb-forest-institutes-power-and-budget.html [47] https://www.sej.org/headlines/protecting-workers-exposed-oregon-s-heat-waves-and-wildfire-smoke [48] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air [49] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [50] https://www.opb.org/article/2021/05/17/oregon-heat-wave-temperatures-wildfire-smoke/ [51] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/ready-climate-change-induced-grid-blackouts-along-heat-waves [52] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/tipsheet [53] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/cities-towns [54] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-lakes [55] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mid-atlantic [56] https://www.sej.org/headlines/feud-breaks-out-among-gop-lawmakers-over-snake-river-dams [57] https://apnews.com/article/mt-state-wire-dams-government-and-politics-environment-and-nature-53bd882497d748c11e93f57a7327f05e [58] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=18 [59] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=15 [60] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=16 [61] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=17 [62] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=20 [63] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=21 [64] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=22 [65] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=23 [66] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest?page=73