My World's on Fire
By Colleen Hagerty
issues
The space between
A note start today—September has been an incredibly active month for extreme weather, and it’s a heavy time for many of the millions of people who have been impacted by hurricanes, heat, flooding, or fires. As always, I defer to local outlets and journalists …
Working 9 to 5
(And then some)
Powering down
Hello from the past! I'm currently taking a bit of time off, so this is a rare pre-scheduled newsletter. While I'm away, I wanted to share an article from the Solutions Journalism Exchange (if you don’t know what solutions journalism is, here’s a quick intro)…
My August's on Fire
Hi members!Apologies for the slight delay in getting you this August edition, but I wanted to wait to include some insights from the Twitter Space I hosted yesterday with Anna Weber, a senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Kris …
Beyond the burn
Revisiting a prescribed burn, six months later
Why one tribe is crowdfunding their wildfire recovery
By the time you receive this email, firefighters are expected to have almost fully contained the Oak Fire in Mariposa County, California. (Not sure what it means to "contain" a fire? Check out this explainer from Popular Science.) The fire sparked in late Jul…
Hit the books
I'll be honest: my writing brain is a bit tapped out this week. I'm currently juggling a number of deadlines, work travel, and trying to sum up my thoughts on disaster journalism for an upcoming conference, all of which you'll be hearing about in future newsl…
In the know
Four years ago, I covered a wave of teacher strikes that were breaking out across the country, largely in response to low salaries and poor working conditions. With admin permission, I joined a number of the Facebook groups teachers were using to plan their a…
My July's on fire
Hi members!I’ve heard a number of you did not receive this email in June, and I apologize for that. Unfortunately, this newsletter platform has been having some technical issues, and I’m doing my best to figure out a way forward that ensures you receive all t…
The signal emerging from the noise
A members-only MWOF edition
Keeping it 100
Last week, this newsletter hit its 100th edition. A fraction of you have received every one of those in your inboxes (and maybe even read them all!), and I am unbelievably grateful for your continued support. I’m also thrilled that so many people have discove…
Go your own way
Note: We’re going to do one of my favorite things today and get into the disaster-bureaucracy weeds. So, if you’re unfamiliar with the basics of emergency management, I highly recommend checking out this edition about what emergency managers do and the local/…
Listen and learn
Hello from New Jersey, where I'm currently doing some solutions journalism reporting (if you don’t know what solutions journalism is, here’s a quick intro). I'll have plenty more to share with you about this trip in the coming weeks, but for now, a little pos…
But not a drop to drink
This story is part of Covering Climate Now’s Food & Water joint coverage week. More on that below!Andrew Whelton is a professor of civil, environmental, and ecological engineering at Purdue University with a focus on water infrastructure and disasters. In…
Pencil me in
A quick one for you this week, as I decided to shake up my schedule a bit and give you a My World's on Fire double-whammy next week: First up, on Tuesday, June 28th at 5pm Pacific , I'll be hosting this month's Twitter Space with Monica Sanders. She is an exp…
By any other name
If you’ve been following the floods in Montana, wildfires in New Mexico, or heat waves all across the US, you might have come across the phrase “climate disaster.” It’s become the go-to term for a number of media outlets and politicians alike, a sort of catch…
Don't sleep on it
Talking about holdover/sleeper/zombie fires
School's out for the summer
Tyler dreams of traveling — Amsterdam ranks high on his list.Angelina designs animated cartoons during free moments, a passion she hopes could one day become a career.Grace has seen the ability nurses have to brighten someone’s day and hopes to pay that kindn…
The cost of doing nothing
This week, I’ve been attending the International Association of Wildland Fire's "Climate & Fire" conference. One of the first panels I watched featured Dr. Crystal Kolden, a pyrogeographer at the University of California, Merced. I've referenced her work …
Taking care of business
One of my favorite parts of writing this newsletter is getting to revisit voices you've heard from in the past, as it's something I rarely get to do in my work for other outlets. The time I spend speaking with people tends to offer a window into just a sliver…