Chris Mooney

The powerful connection between data and story Part one of a two part essay on realizing the full potential of data journalism.

"...a journalist looking at data in search of a story has many advantages." 
@chriscmooney.bsky.social, 2010 KSJ fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning climate reporter, shares on his Substack how he digs through data to find narrative.

The powerful connection between data and story Part one of a two part essay on realizing the full potential of data journalism.

My latest at Substack: If you understand how to work with data, it actually strengthens, in myriad ways, your ability to find and tell compelling journalistic stories
reportearth.substack.com/p/the-deep-c...

A ship with a red hull used for icebreaking in the Arctic. Blue sea with icebergs, glaciers, and mountains.

US to retire its only icebreaker, stranding polar research - new article posted today by @cuboulder. The icebreaker is critical for researchers who study the changes on the edges of Antarctic glaciers and how they relate to climate change and sea level rise. buff.ly/oMAElHY #antarctica #glaciers

ReportEarth chart archive Since I began this Substack in March, I've been making lots of charts. Now they can all live in one place.

Next week, we’ll be learning about August 2025’s global temperatures. Stand by.

Again, all my charts are at the chart archive on Substack, here:
reportearth.substack.com/p/reporteart...

Here’s a chart that combines together newspaper jobs with other print publishing sectors, also now updated (though the most recent data are just a tiny stretch at the end)

And, newspaper jobs! Job levels are looking really flat in 2025. I continue to wonder if this will be the year where finally, we don’t see a significant loss. That would be unusual.

We also have new data on Arctic sea ice. It looks like August was the 7th lowest extent on record.

And here's the U.S., where the decline is not quite so sharp, and there was a recent uptick in July, likely tied to coverage of the Texas floods

The change in the UK is particularly striking.

First, what’s new: I took a look at climate change coverage around the world, and it shows an apparent downturn since the 2021 Glasgow COP in Western countries. Specifically, in Europe, North America, and Oceania. More discussion here
reportearth.substack.com/p/the-growin...

ReportEarth chart archive Since I began this Substack in March, I've been making lots of charts. Now they can all live in one place.

It’s the beginning of the month, so I’ve got lots of newly updated charts. As well as a few new ones. They're all at the Chart Archive here, but here's a quick runthrough...
reportearth.substack.com/p/reporteart...

The strange divide in how Americans experience summer temperatures | CNN Average temperatures elide a complex reality: The country’s experience of hotter summers — and thus one of the most visceral aspects of climate change itself — is fractured along geographic lines.

"It’s getting hotter, longer, more humid and more dangerous. Yet averages elide a complex reality: The country’s experience of hotter summers — and thus one of the most visceral aspects of climate change itself — is fractured along geographic lines."

More on the Central U.S. warming hole ⬇️

Is summer getting longer where you live? See how temperatures changed. The hottest stretch of the year is expanding beyond any calendar definition of summer. See what regions are experiencing the biggest change.

The hottest stretch of the year is expanding beyond any calendar definition of summer. See how much longer summer temperatures last where you live wapo.st/4mtyZmx

The strange divide in how Americans experience summer temperatures | CNN Average temperatures elide a complex reality: The country’s experience of hotter summers — and thus one of the most visceral aspects of climate change itself — is fractured along geographic lines.

On @cnn.com , Practitioner Fellow @chriscmooney.bsky.social writes about about the warming hole:
"Summer is behaving very erratically as the country warms, with large changes in some regions, especially the West, and very muted ones in the central and southeast US."
www.cnn.com/2025/08/19/c...

Alaska was lucky to avoid disaster after a landslide and tsunami. What about next time? The close call in Tracy Arm 50 miles south of Juneau on 10 August is the latest sign that as glaciers melt, risks may rise

Alaska was lucky to avoid disaster after a landslide and tsunami. What about next time?

Total estimated Canada #wildfire emissions to end July already marking 2025 as 3rd most extreme year in #CopernicusAtmosphere GFAS dataset. Most extreme year for Saskatchewan & Manitoba with no sign of the number of fires reducing across the country. Read our @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social summary ⬇️

Hundreds of NASA Employees Condemn Trump Administration Cuts in Public Letter The signatories of the “Voyager Declaration” warned the space agency’s leadership about the consequences of major budget cuts that would halt many science missions.

“I’m already at risk of losing my job, and I’d rather speak out and try to save something at NASA, rather than just hide under my desk until I get laid off." NASA employees sign public letter protesting cuts. Story by @kchang.bsky.social Gift link: nyti.ms/45fBYca

E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm The decision comes after a Supreme Court ruling allowing the Trump administration to slash the federal work force and dismantle agencies.

E.P.A. Says It Will Eliminate Its Scientific Research Arm nyti.ms/46jxy50 3/4

The biggest black hole merger ever detected so far rocked the Universe The gravitational waves they emitted were fiercely powerful, but where did the black holes come from?

In 2023, astronomers detected a cosmic blast so powerful it released more energy than ALL THE STARS IN THE UNIVERSE COMBINED. The cause: two black holes colliding and merging… which is a problem, because they were way bigger than we thought possible.

badastronomy.beehiiv.com/p/the-bigges...

🧪🔭

Total estimated emissions from Canadian #wildfires continue to increase rapidly with 2025 already 3rd highest year, after 2023 & 2024, as of 13 July. #CopernicusAtmosphere GFAS data based on MODIS🛰️ active fire obs ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/datasets/cam... @copernicusecmwf.bsky.social @ecmwf.int

What climate journalism means heading into a 1.5 C world Five charts and fifty-five opinions about the state of the field, and where it is going.

5/ (This graphic first appeared as part of this Substack post reportearth.substack.com/p/what-clima...)

4/ In any event, whatever's going on, jobs so far in 2025 appear static to slightly down (though it's early yet in the year, this could easily change).

Planning to keep watching these monthly, and wondering if anything can halt the ongoing decline of newspapers in the U.S.

3/ (Although the recent Reuters Institute report finds no "Trump bump" for traditional news in 2025. reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news...)

2/ Driven by the Trump administration, there’s an enormous volume of news in the current environment. I would assume that newspapers, especially national ones, are seeing more traffic to their websites.

1/ I’ve updated my newspaper jobs graphic with the latest data from the BLS.

Defense Department will stop providing crucial satellite weather data Hurricane forecasters and scientists rely on weather data collected and processed by Department of Defense satellites. The Navy has decided to stop sharing the data.

Hurricane forecasters and scientists rely on weather data collected and processed by Department of Defense satellites. The Navy has decided to stop sharing the data.

Beleaguered Weather Service defends its forecasts as Texas officials point fingers over flood warnings | CNN Texas forecasters issued a series of early-morning warnings about “life-threatening flooding” along the Guadalupe River.

As the death toll climbs in the wake of the Texas floods, lots of finger-pointing re: the NWS' forecasts and warnings. The bottom line: An agency reeling from cuts still issued timely outlooks & warnings. Lots of ?s though (1/2) www.cnn.com/2025/07/05/c...

Texas Flooding Updates: Rescuers Search for Survivors and Victims After 27 Killed The death toll included nine children. More than two dozen girls were missing from a camp on the Guadalupe River, and it is unclear how many more people are unaccounted for.

Breaking News: The death toll in the Texas floods rose to at least 27 people, including nine children. More than two dozen girls were missing from a camp on the Guadalupe River, and it is unclear how many more people are unaccounted for. Follow live updates.

There have been claims that NOAA/NWS did not foresee catastrophic TX floods--but that's simply not true. This was undoubtedly an extreme event, but messaging rapidly escalated beginning ~12 hrs prior. Flood Watch mid PM, "heads up" outlook late PM, flash flood warnings ~1am.

Madre Fire Grows to 70,800 Acres, Prompting Evacuations in California The blaze is burning in a rural area of San Luis Obispo County, in the central coast, but its smoke has spread to nearby counties.

A wildfire in California’s San Luis Obispo County rapidly expanded overnight and was covering about 70,800 acres by Friday morning, prompting evacuation orders, closing part of a highway and sending smoke billowing into neighboring counties. It is the biggest wildfire the state has seen this year.