Resource Toolbox for Climate Change Reporting in the South

 

Covering Your Climate: Resource Toolbox for Climate Change Reporting in the South

As part of our special report “Covering Your Climate: The South,” a joint project between the independent, nonprofit media organization Southerly and the SEJournal Online, we’ve collected a wide range of resources to help reporters track down climate stories throughout the Southern United States. You’ll find an array of government, academic and NGO links for the Southern United States region, along with additional national and international resources. If you'd like to share additional resources, email Editor Adam Glenn at sejournaleditor@sej.org.

 

U.S. and International Climate Resources

• NASA: Global Climate Change Resources
• National Center for Atmospheric Research: Climate Resources
• NOAA: Climate Resources | Billion-Dollar Weather Events 1980-2020 (search “South” or “Southeastern” climate region)
• U.S. Global Change Research Program
• U.S. Geological Survey: Climate Resources
• United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• SciLine's climate Quick Facts

Regional Climate Resources

• Fourth National Climate Assessment: Southeast chapter (2018) | Third National Climate Assessment: Southeast chapter (2014) | State Climate Summaries (2017)
• NC State: Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center
• NOAA: National Centers for Environmental Information – Southern Regional Climate Services program | Fisheries’ Southeast/Gulf of Mexico Climate Science Strategy Regional Action Plans | Climate Impacts Research Consortium Climate Toolbox
• U.S. Geological Survey: Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center | Region 1: North Atlantic-Appalachian | Region 2: South Atlantic-Gulf | Region 4: Mississippi Basin | Region 6: Arkansas-Rio Grande-Texas-Gulf
• Southeast Regional Climate Center (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Southeast Climate Impacts & Impacts by State) (archived site) | MyEnvironment site (search by state, i.e., “South Carolina”) | Utility Markets in the United States
• Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange Southeast & Caribbean
• U.S. Department of Agriculture: Southeast Climate Hub
• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Climate Change in the Southeast
• U.S. Forest Service: Southern Region Climate Resources
• National Weather Service: Southern Region | Eastern Region
• Federal Emergency Management Agency: Region 3 (DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, WV) | Region 4 (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN) | Region 6 (AK, LA, NM, OK, TX)
• Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program
• Risky Business Southeast Report
• Climate Central Surging Seas: Risk Finder Map | Coastal Risk Screening Tool
• State Policy Opportunity Tracker: Spot for Clean Energy (state-by-state dropdown)
• NRDC Southeast regional resources

State and Local Climate Resources

• North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies: State Climate Thumbnails
• U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit: Find Experts by state | Case studies – Southeast
• States at Risk project national summary
• Climate Central's Climate Matters media library (dropdown search by state and media market)
• Georgetown Climate Center State and Local Adaptation Plans
• Sierra Club Ready for 100 Clean Energy Campaign Locale Map
• CDP Cities List 2020
• American Wind Energy Association 2nd Quarter 2020 Report (with wind resources by state) | Request 3rd Quarter 2020 Report
• Solar Energy Industries Association Map of Solar Installed by State
• ACEEE State Energy Efficiency Scorecard

South Atlantic Region

• EPA: What Climate Change Means for Florida | Georgia | South Carolina | North Carolina | Virginia | West Virginia | Maryland | Delaware | District of Columbia
• Florida Climate Institute
• Florida Climate Center
• Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact
• Georgia Environmental Protection Division: Greenhouse Gases | 2020 Climate Summaries
• Georgia Department of Coastal Resources: Coastal Hazards and Resiliency
• Georgia Climate Project
• Atlanta Regional Commission: Climate Change
• Atlanta Office of Resilience: Atlanta Rising Report
• City of Atlanta Climate Action Plan
• South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Climate: Climate Change Impacts to Natural Resources in South Carolina (pdf)
• North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency
• North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality: Climate
• North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan
• Triangle Regional Resilience Partnership Resilience Assessment
• Virginia Governor's Commission on Climate Change Final Report: A Climate Change Action Plan
• Virginia Climate Change and Resilience Commission Report to the Governor
• Virginia Department of Health: Public Health Impacts of Climate Change
• Virginia Institute of Marine Science: Climate Change & Coastal Resilience
• Virginia Conservation Network: Addressing Sea Level Rise and a Changing Climate
• US Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District | Norfolk Coastal Storm Risk Management
• Fairfax County, Va.: Climate Change Planning and Action
• NRDC: Climate Change and Health in Virginia
• West Virginia Climate Alliance: A Citizen’s Guide to Climate Change
• West Virginia Center on Climate Change
• USDA Northeast Climate Hub: What West Virginia’s Changing Climate Means for Its Farmers
• Maryland Commission on Climate Change: "2020 Annual Report"
• Maryland Climate Change Health Adaptation Program
• University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science: Maryland and Climate Change
• Chesapeake Bay Foundation: Climate Change
• Baltimore (Md.) Office of Sustainability: Baltimore & Climate Change
• Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control: Understanding Climate Change
• Seagrant Delaware: Climate Change and Delaware
• Washington, D.C. Department of Energy & Environment: Climate Change
• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments: Climate Change
• DC Climate Coalition

East South Central Region

• EPA: What Climate Change Means for Mississippi | Alabama | Tennessee | Kentucky
• Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality: Energy Conservation
• Mississippi River Collaborative: Climate Change and Water Quality
• Alabama Department of Environmental Management: Climate, Policy, and Water Availability: The Future of Irrigation in Alabama Report
• Southern Alliance for Clean Energy: Factsheet on Climate Change Impacts on Alabama
• Sierra Club Alabama Chapter: Impacts of Climate Change in the State of Alabama
• Tennessee Department of Health: Climate Change and Public Health
• Southern Alliance for Clean Energy: Factsheet on Climate Change Impacts on Tennessee
• Louisville, Kentucky Sustainability Department: Climate Action and Resilience resources

West South Central Region

• EPA: What Climate Change Means for Texas | Louisiana | Oklahoma | Arkansas
• Texas: State Hazard Mitigation Plan
• Environment Texas: Global Warming Solutions
• City of Dallas: Climate Action Plan
• City of Houston Office of Sustainability: Climate Action Plan
• City of San Antonio Office of Sustainability: Climate Action & Adaptation
• Austin, Texas: Climate Program
• Louisiana Climate Initiatives Task Force | Interim Report
• Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority: 2023 Coastal Master Plan
• LSU Law Center: Climate Change Law and Policy Project
• Oklahoma Climatological Survey: Statement on Climate Change and Its Implications for Oklahoma
• Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program: Climate Change in Oklahoma | Climate Change in Arkansas
• Arkansas Climate Action Plan Summary
• National Wildlife Federation: Global Warming and Arkansas Factsheet

Publications, Noteworthy Articles and Other Climate/Energy Resources

• Texas Climate News
• Southerly Magazine: Climate Coverage
• SafeHome.org: Best & Worst States for Climate Change Scorecard
• Yale Program on Climate Change Communication: State-by-State Climate Opinion Factsheets | Are Hurricane-Prone States More Concerned About Climate Change? | Yale Climate Opinion Maps
• “As Climate Changes, Southern States Will Suffer More Than Others,” New York Times, June 2017
• “Why Hurricane Sally Could Bring a Deluge,” New York Times, October 2020 (may require subscription)
• “As Climate Change Scorches California, It Also Raises Wildfire Risks in North Carolina,” The News & Observer, September 2020
• “Power Utilities Are Built for the 20th Century. That’s Why They’re Flailing in the 21st.” & “Reimagining Electric Utilities for the 21st Century,” Vox, September 2015
• Climate Change in the American Mind (April 2020)
• Politics and Global Warming (April 2020)
• Which Racial/Ethnic Groups Care Most About Climate Change?
• Anthropocene
• Gizmodo's Earther (sign up)
• Edge Effects (sign up)
• Heated (sign up)
• Inside Climate News (multiple newsletter sign up)
• Newswise Climate for journalists (resources, RSS feed)
• The New York Times Climate (Climate Fwd: newsletter signup)
• Our Daily Planet (sign up)
• Yale Environment 360 (sign up)
• George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication
• Axios Generate (sign up)
• Politico Morning Energy (sign up)
• Washington Post The Energy 202