Anything related to air quality, air pollution, or the atmosphere
"Over the last few decades, air in the U.S. has undergone a remarkable transformation: pollution levels of health-damaging tiny particles have dropped by roughly 40% since 2000, primarily thanks to the country's decades-long effort to improve air quality through the Clean Air Act, a landmark environmental law."
"Guardian investigation finds 98% of Europeans breathing highly damaging polluted air linked to 400,000 deaths a year".
In the aftermath of breaking wildfire news, when environmental journalists are looking to tell the bigger picture story, there are myriad resources that provide data and insight. To help you sort through it all, the latest Reporter’s Toolbox scans eight powerful data portals that provide everything from real-time tracking and satellite data to risk analysis and health impacts.
"In a long-anticipated move, EPA is poised to target the Trump-era rollback of a venerable industrial air pollution policy."
Sometimes on the environment beat, what seems like an old story is perpetually new again. That’s the case with waste incineration, finds the latest TipSheet. Rather than being reduced, incinerators are just being transformed, with the ongoing burning of plastics especially troubling for the environment and public health. Get the backstory on where the regulatory regime may have holes, plus key reporting angles and story ideas.
"A crypto-mining company in Pennsylvania is seeking to burn tires to produce bitcoin, prompting an outcry from residents and environmental groups."
"A newly identified particle in smoke, dark brown carbon, can warm the atmosphere by absorbing sunlight."
"Scientists and educators are searching for ways to improve air quality in the nation’s often dilapidated school buildings."
"On a sunny afternoon in a cluttered music room at East High in Denver, two sophomores practiced violin while their music teacher, Keith Oxman, labored over a desk in an adjoining office.
The ceiling fans were off to prevent the sheet music from scattering. The windows were sealed shut. East High is Denver’s largest high school and among the oldest, and there is no modern ventilation system.
"On Thursday, NASA released the first data maps from its new instrument launched to space earlier this year, which now is successfully transmitting information about major air pollutants over North America."
"What do you get when you combine record-breaking heat, wildfire smoke and sunlight? Ground-level ozone in amounts high enough to cause health problems in both Baton Rouge and New Orleans on Friday and Saturday, according to the federal/state Air Quality Index."
