In the wake of two major disasters, beat reporters at The Washington Post examined systemic failures in response and recovery, and the human toll for affected communities. Journalist Brianna Sacks shares what she learned from those investigations, which won a large market award for beat reporting from the Society of Environmental Journalists. Read our Inside Story Q&A.
When it comes to tracking weather phenomena from heat waves and tornadoes to wildfire smoke or storm surge, environmental journalists could hardly do better than the vast array of data from the National Weather Service, writes the latest Reporter’s Toolbox. A tour of data maps and viewers, forecasts and weather insights from the large scale to the local.
"Yudelaimys Barrero Muñoz used to spend up to three hours on the side of a highway under the blazing sun waving money at drivers as she attempted to hitch a ride from Cienfuegos, Cuba to Santa Clara, where she buys supplies to resell and support her husband and two children."
"Climate change is putting the future of B.C.’s trail system at risk, as the province weighs the cost of repair after disasters. Communities like Princeton are facing the fallout"
"Between 2000 and 2020, 42% of tree lines around the world crept upward, largely because of climate change. But 25% moved downhill, seemingly because of factors such as land use changes and wildfires."
"Today, under authority of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and the Real ID Act, the new Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin waived 29 environmental and conservation laws in the Big Bend Sector."
"The World Health Organization declared a new Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to be a "public health emergency of international concern" on Sunday."
"Seasonal models are predicting an El Nino climate pattern that could be the strongest on record, bringing with it more extreme weather."
"Cameron Hamilton was acting agency chief last year until he was fired amid clashes with Kristi Noem."
"Climate change is causing oceans worldwide to warm. But that year, summertime sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico began heating up at about twice the rate seen in the global oceans."
