When it comes to telling environment and energy stories, especially about place and scale, data visualizations can turn an average story into a standout. Reporter’s Toolbox takes a look at some recent examples of inspiring data-mapping projects that provide insight into everything from auto emissions and floods to vanishing rivers and whipping winds.
As U.S. coal’s comedown continues, our latest Issue Backgrounder takes a close look at the factors behind the industry’s decline and finds a combination of economics, competition and shifting global markets, along with aging technology, politics and environmental pushback. What’s in store for coal in 2020?
"In 1991, flames swept into the Oakland and Berkeley hills, killing more than two dozen people and destroying more than 2,000 homes."
"A new fire early Monday threatened homes and prompted evacuations in Los Angeles while 400 miles to the north, the Kincade Fire nearly doubled in size as it neared the city of Santa Rosa."
"Firefighters in Los Angeles, Sonoma and San Bernardino counties are battling fires that have spread across the region."
"In a move that is raising questions about the future of Yosemite National Park, the National Park Service announced Wednesday that it was reassigning park Supt. Mike Reynolds, a 34-year park service veteran who grew up in Yosemite."
"Residents in 16 California counties have been warned that Wednesday may bring more intentional power shutoffs to over 200,000 customers."
"The Trump administration on Tuesday moved to weaken protections for a threatened California fish, a change that would allow large amounts of water to be diverted from the San Francisco Bay Delta to irrigate arid farmland and could harm the region’s fragile ecosystem."
"Hundreds of correctional officers across the U.S. are working in prisons – including two in California – with mold growing in areas constantly populated by both officers and inmates."
The links between agriculture and climate are as old as the Indus Valley Civilization and as current as this year’s Mississippi Basin floods. And stories about how each influences the other will likely unfold at an ever faster rate, according to this week’s TipSheet. The backstory, with an outline of the interactions between ag and global warming, plus story ideas and reporting resources.
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