Toolbox

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.

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

Regional Climate Resources

• Fourth National Climate Assessment: Southeast chapter (2018); Third National Climate Assessment, Southeast chapter (2014)
• 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
• Southern Regional Climate Center
• 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)
• Climate Central Surging Seas: Risk Finder Map | Coastal Risk Screening Tool

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
• Georgetown Climate Center State and Local Adaptation Plans
• Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority | 2023 Coastal Master Plan
• North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency 
• North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality | Climate
• North Carolina Climate Risk Assessment and Resilience Plan 
• South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Climate: “Climate Change Impacts to Natural Resources in South Carolina” (pdf)
• US Army Corps of Engineers Norfolk District | Norfolk Coastal Storm Risk Management
• Louisville, Kentucky Sustainability Department Climate Action and Resilience resources
• Triangle Regional Resilience Partnership Resilience Assessment
• Sierra Club Ready for 100 Clean Energy Campaign Locale Map 
• CDP Cities A List 2020
• American Wind Energy Association 2nd Quarter 2020 Report (with wind resources by state)
• Solar Energy Industries Association Map of Solar Installed by State
• ACEEE State Energy Efficiency Scorecard

Publications, Noteworthy Articles and Other Climate/Energy Resources 

• 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” (NY Times, June 2017) (may require subscription)
• “Why Hurricane Sally Could Bring a Deluge” (NY 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 (sign up)

Article and Grouping Date: Feb 16, 2021