Welcome to Locally Sourced, a biweekly Covering Climate Now newsletter for journalists working to localize the climate story. Share this newsletter with colleagues and journalism students interested in localizing the climate story. Vea la versión en español de “Fuentes Locales.”
Story Spark: Oceans
Oceans have borne the brunt of human-caused global warming, absorbing nearly 90% of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions. This has resulted in record-breaking water temperatures globally; last year was not only the hottest year on record for land temperatures — but for ocean temperatures as well.
These marine heatwaves cause significant disruptions both above and below water: fueling stronger hurricanes, accelerating sea-level rise, disrupting ocean circulations, and wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems. Coral reefs, home to nearly 25% of all marine life, are exceptionally vulnerable to this added heat. Significant bleaching has already been found across the ocean with scientists projecting that 99% of the world’s coral reefs would die off if global temperatures rose more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial averages. Additionally, warmer coastal waters are forcing many fish to migrate to cooler water — impacting fishing communities and the 3.3 billion people whose diets rely on fish.
In addition to warming ocean waters, climate change is also making seawater more acidic as it absorbs atmospheric CO2. As more research explores the potential carbon storing and removal solutions the ocean offers, it’s important to investigate the benefits, risks, and feasibility of these projects.
Stories We Like
- Invasive sargassum seaweed, made worse due to climate change, poses a monumental crisis to those across the Caribbean. The Xylom examines possible solutions to turn this example of climate injustice into “new gold.”
- As climate change bleaches coral reefs, one life-saving cancer treatment developed from sea sponges is also in danger, CBS Boston reports.
- NPR highlights “marine snow,” clumps of dead plankton and bacteria, and its role in trapping and storing carbon as it slowly falls to the ocean floor.
- In Senegal, where warming ocean water is destabilizing fishing communities, the Post and Courier highlights one fisherman pondering, “Should I go?”
- Vox celebrates the parrotfish, an awkward-looking hero of the ocean that is helping some coral reefs thrive despite climate-driven warming and ocean acidification.
- A unifying theme at all major 2024 UN conferences? The ocean. Dialogue Earth summarizes the challenges and ocean issue discussed at COP16 and COP29.
- CBS Chicago follows up with Alaskan fishermen as NOAA finds climate change is to blame for the disappearance of billions of snow crabs — a 90% plunge in the population.
- Mongabay explores the risks and unknowns of marine cloud brightening (MCB), a controversial geoengineering strategy to ward off the worst effects of climate change.
Expert Tips
Jessica Aldred, environmental journalist and ocean editor at the Pulitzer Center, offers tips for reporting on climate’s influence on oceans. Based in London, Aldred has specialized in ocean reporting for years and helps run the Pulitzer Center’s ocean reporting fellowships and grants program.
Make it consistent. Ocean coverage often lacks depth and tends to be reactive, spiking around specific events like oil spills. One good story can start a conversation, but sustained attention has more impact. Coverage of marine plastic pollution and the resulting public awareness and policy change is a good example.
Cover socioeconomic as well as environmental impacts. The global economy relies on the ocean’s capacity to provide natural resources, food, energy, and employment for millions of people, mostly in the Global South. There is room for more social justice coverage in ocean reporting: the rights of Indigenous communities, benefit sharing, gender inequality, human rights, and labor abuses.
Think locally, but explore global connections. Does your story fit into wider patterns that may indicate systemic problems? Is there potential for collaboration with other journalists? Ocean stories can happen in remote, difficult-to-access locations. Try to avoid “parachute” journalism: Work with local reporting partners and help build capacity so that more reporters and newsrooms can cover these issues.
Highlight the ocean-climate connection. The ocean is the world’s largest carbon sink, and by absorbing excess CO2, it mitigates climate change. But rising greenhouse gas emissions are resulting in acidification, sea-level rise, and other devastating impacts. The ocean is a victim, but also part of the solution.
Helpful Links
Resources
- Visualize climate change’s influence on warming sea surface temperatures by using Climate Central’s interactive attribution tools.
- Find powerful ocean visuals, carefully selected and freely available for media, on Climate Visual’s free database.
- Explore the Pulitzer Center’s latest Making Waves report to understand the current state of ocean reporting and find opportunities for better storytelling.
- Dive into the latest report from the IPCC on what changes are expected to the ocean as our planet continues to warm.
- Access recent coral bleaching observations and knowledge-building resources from the International Coral Reef Initiative.
- Find a comprehensive list of organizations and programs across the world tracking reef health on the Coral Reef Alliance’s website.
- Examine NOAA’s ocean acidification data to learn more about how water chemistry is changing as carbon dioxide levels increase.
Recommended Experts:
- Daniel Gilford, climate scientist, Climate Central on warming oceans
- Greg Asner, professor, Arizona State University on coral reefs and biodiversity
- Daniel Pauly, principal investigator, Sea Around Us on fisheries and marine ecosystems
- Anastasia Romanou, climate scientist, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies on ocean heat and carbon uptake
- Derek Manzello, coral reef ecologist and coordinator, NOAA Coral Reef Watch on ocean acidification
- Baerbel Hoenisch, professor, Columbia Climate School on paleoclimate and ocean chemistry
- Find a NOAA Sea Grant professional located in your area
Before We Go…
The next Locally Sourced will highlight emergency alert systems. Have you reported stories about the challenges of disaster warnings or early warning systems? Send them to us at local[at]coveringclimatenow[dot]org. We’d love to consider them for the next edition of Locally Sourced and our media trainings and social platforms.
The Climate Station is a free-of-cost training program from CCNow that equips local TV station newsrooms in the US, including journalists, producers, and meteorologists, to cover climate news more effectively. For inquiries, please email Elena González at elena[at]coveringclimatenow[dot]org. Or apply here.
Want more story ideas? Check out the Locally Sourced archive for more topics to explore, including wildfires, home insurance, attribution science, and more.
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