How well are U.S. communities preparing for the threats of climate change? A data-rich climate mapping resource that provides vibrant insight into resilience and adaptation can help reporters better understand the answer, even down to the neighborhood level. The latest Reporter’s Toolbox takes a closer look, including at the many data sets that feed into the resource.
"The US government is stepping away from its effort to collect data on home insurance prices and availability at the Zip code level as premiums soar and climate risks to property intensify. Instead, it will join in a collaborative effort with state insurance regulators."
"Ever-worsening floods are killing trees at an increasing rate along the upper Mississippi River, and invasive grasses are taking over. The Army Corps of Engineers has launched a project to restore forest and boost tree diversity, and to improve habitat for fish and birds, too."
"The Senate passed a stand-alone bill to extend and expand a 30-year-old law compensating Americans exposed to radiation by the federal government in a 69-30 vote."
"The state's high plains get a month more fire weather now than they did in the 1970s."
"During a summer’s afternoon in 2022, a 450-foot fireball exploded at a liquefied natural gas terminal south of Houston, rocking sunbathers on Quintana Beach, adjacent to the Freeport LNG terminal, and rattling homes for miles around. Eighteen months later, residents around the plant have yet to receive any information directly from Freeport LNG about what caused the explosion, or what to do if it were to happen again ... ."
"A new study of sinking and rising land along American coasts offers a more specific understanding of potential flooding in 32 coastal cities."
"From Biden vs. Trump to an oil well referendum in California, climate change debate is all over the ballot in federal, state and local contests." "In the wake of the hottest year on record, with fossil fuel production increasing and sea levels rising, the stakes for the climate couldn’t be higher in this year’s elections."
"Many Panhandle residents whose dwellings and possessions burned in the region’s ongoing wildfires may never financially recover for one simple reason: Their homes weren’t insured."
"A vibrant fishing industry, some of the world’s largest coral reefs, desalination plants supplying millions with drinking water. They’re all at risk from large amounts of fertilizer and oil spilled into the Red Sea by the sinking of a cargo ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels."
