Issue

Environment and Climate Change

Earth's average temperature has risen approximately one degree Fahrenheit in the last 50 years. By the end of this century, it will be several degrees higher, according to the latest climate research.

But global warming is doing more than simply making things a little warmer. It's changing rainfall, causing heat waves, and making sea level rise, all of which create human suffering.

Environment and Climate Change brings together reporting from Pulitzer Center grantees on the abilities of communities in diverse regions to bounce back and adapt to the impacts of climate change: One highlight includes in-depth reporting by Nathaniel Rich on the response to global warming during the 1979-1989 decade—an article that takes up the entire issue of The New York Times Magazine. Our journalists investigate climate change in the Arctic—the effects on indigenous communities, the destruction of the fragile natural environment, and the conflict between humans and polar bears. One interactive, award-winning multimedia project, "Sea Change," looks at ocean acidification, its impact on fishing, people's livelihoods, and food security. The documentary "Easy Like Water" features a solar-powered school boat in Bangladesh, where flooding may create 20 million "climate refugees" by mid-century.

Other stories covered here range from the future of the residents of Kiribati, a low-lying island nation in the Pacific, to the biological diversity of the rainforest in Peru, and the psychological effects of climate change on the inhabitants of Australia and Fiji. How does the melting Arctic ice cap affect our lives? How do overfishing and exploitation of mineral resources beneath the ocean’s surface jeopardize food sources need to sustain the planet’s ever-expanding population?

As part of the Pulitzer Center's long-term support for climate change reporting, the Rainforest Journalism Fund was established to provide capacity for local journalists operating in the rainforest regions of Latin America, Africa, and Asia, as well as international journalists reporting from those regions. The Fund represents a major investment in global environmental and climate reporting, with plans to support nearly 200 original reporting projects along with annual regional conferences designed to raise the level of reporting on global rainforest issues such as deforestation and climate change.

 

Environment and Climate Change

Two Lives of Fire Giant (bahasa Indonesia)

Journalists and civil society organizations from different countries came together to uncover the alleged involvement of corporations in Indonesia’s 2019 fire season.

Feeling the Heat

There is concern that a number of articles in the job creation bill may weaken environmental law enforcement. The bill poses a new threat to forests and peatlands.

Peatland Fires Are 'Patterned and Massive'

The next two months will be crucial for Nazir Foead and his team at Indonesia's Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG). Peatlands have been vulnerable to fires during this time of year, and BRG has been the target of criticism.

Companies Behind Forest Fires

Land and forest fires ravaged Indonesia in 2019. Satellite imagery and field checking suggest that companies were at fault. Poor law enforcement and lax regulations may trigger similar disasters in the future.

The Untouchables

Companies responsible for forest fires in Indonesia are not being served equal punishment. Civil suits are difficult to execute, while criminal suits do not seem to be moving forward.

Bamboo-Powered Plants Gone Offline

Power plants in three Indonesian villages stopped operating less than a year after being officially opened. As a result, hundreds of families spend their nights without electricity.

Guatemala Emigration Report

Jonathan Blitzer, a staff writer for The New Yorker , and documentary photographer Mauricio Lima traveled to Guatemala in order to report on the "push" factors driving people to migrate.

The Dams Engulfing Forests

An investigation into the socio-environmental impacts caused by the construction of six hydroelectric dams on the Teles Pires river in Brazil's Mato Grosso state.

Bolsonaro and the Brazilian Amazon

Under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s indigenous communities are bracing for an escalation of repression, encroachment, and displacement throughout the Amazon and the rainforest frontier.

The Last River

A series of reports on the threats and resistance activities linked to the defence of the last river free of large dams in the Tapajos river basin–now being strangled by a belt of deforestation and the constant expansion of agribusiness.

Male Fish + Chemicals = ??

While many are not aware of the details of modern water pollution, most understand the frightening words: “toxic chemicals”.

Meet Students From Bangladesh

Students at solar-powered school boats along the Atrai River in northwestern Bangladesh talk about their studies, ambitions and daily life in an area marked by monsoons, water and sanitation challenges and one of the most densely populated regions on earth.

Where Can I Be Safe?

A 12-year old girl questions the fate of the earth at the August 1 launch of the NYT Magazine article, "Losing Earth," by author Nathaniel Rich, at The Times Center in New York.

This Week: Family Divided at the Border

This week: reunification dreams stall due to continuing crisis along the border, Cape Town's water issues run deep, and Bhopal's 34-year-old environmental disaster still plagues residents.