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Reporter's Toolbox

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Reporter's Toolbox is a regular column focused on the world of data journalism, with an emphasis on data tools, techniques and database resources that journalists can use to improve their environmental reporting.

For questions and comments, or to suggest future Reporter's Toolboxes, email Toolbox Editor Joseph A. Davis at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

Journalists can receive Reporter's Toolbox free by subscribing to the SEJournal Online, the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Subscribe to the e-newsletter here.

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October 30, 2024

  • New-Look Landslide Risk Database Captures Potential Human Costs

    Susceptibility to landslides is more on the minds of environmental reporters, especially in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which caused hundreds of them. To get a better read on local landslide risk for local stories, Reporter’s Toolbox recommends an enhanced resource from the U.S. Geological Survey, which layers the risk data into easily readable map form.

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October 16, 2024

  • Is Climate Data at Risk From Natural Disasters?

    When Hurricane Helene ravaged a swath of the Southeast in September, leaving at least 230 people dead, it also temporarily took out a critical repository of climate data in Asheville, North Carolina. That got Reporter’s Toolbox thinking about the risks to some of the nation’s other important storehouses of environmental information, whether from extreme weather, hackers or politics. Here’s a shortlist.

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October 2, 2024

  • Looking for Environmental Justice Through the Smog

    A serious air pollutant prevalent in underserved communities, Superfund hazardous waste sites nearby, public drinking water systems out of compliance. All are new or enhanced insights found in an improved version of the federal government’s EJScreen data tool. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox reviews the changes and how they can be used to tell stories of real people’s daily lives.

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September 18, 2024

  • Worldview Data Expands Environment Reporter’s Strike Zone

    A sweeping array of satellites observes our planet and sends vast amounts of data back — data that the powerful NASA Worldview website can translate into graphic form to help journalists tell some of the environment beat’s most central stories. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explores the strengths and weaknesses of Worldview in covering everything from wildfires and floods to climate.

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September 4, 2024

  • Sea Surface Temperature Data Tells Many Environmental Stories

    With hurricane season expected to kick into high gear, a key data source for reporters is sea surface temperatures. But this widely available information can also tell reporters something about many other water-related environment stories, whether algal blooms, bacterial risks to public health or the prospects for entire estuarine systems. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox helps you dip your toe into this important data pool.

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August 7, 2024

  • Track Harmful Algal Blooms With Data. Avoid Bad Clams

    It’s summertime and the living is easy for algae that can be hazardous to human health. Climate heating and agricultural pollution are making the problem worse. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explores useful sources of data for tracking trends. Plus, tips on how to use the data for local reporting on the risks posed by this seasonal threat.

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July 10, 2024

  • ‘Endangered’ USGS Pesticide Database Shows Wide Chemical Impact

    Pesticides are a major environmental and public health issue — harming vulnerable human populations, as well as contributing to declines in insect populations and even the birds that feed on them. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explores an invaluable government database that reports estimates of county-level use of a wide array of these chemicals, but which recently faced severe cutbacks. Read more about the Pesticide National Synthesis Project.

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June 19, 2024

  • Tracking the EPA Agenda Through Agency Grants

    Much of what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accomplishes, whether cleaning up water, shoring up infrastructure or reducing climate change, is done through its grants program. To help track that spending, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox points reporters to an enhanced EPA grant database tool that lets you search by geography and across other databases. More on how to make the most of it.

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June 5, 2024

  • New HeatRisk Data Site Helps Warn on Health Threats

    As global warming worsens heat-related illnesses, U.S. government agencies have refined a data tool whose greatest value may be to warn people about the extreme heat events that can send them to the emergency room or worse. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox explores the improved HeatRisk site and how its combination of climate and medical considerations refocuses attention on the vulnerable.

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May 22, 2024

  • Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Helps Tell the Climate Story

    A massive data set that tracks greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is now newly updated, and the latest Reporter’s Toolbox calls it essential for informed reporting on U.S. climate policy. Its three decades-plus of measurements can help journalists track big emitters near them and from a variety of major sources ranging from landfill methane to industrial polluters.

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SEJournal Online is the digital news magazine of the Society of Environmental Journalists. Learn more about SEJournal Online, including submission, subscription and advertising information.