A legal loophole in the Clean Air Act allows air pollution to be erased from EPA statistics and regulatory decisions if the pollution was caused by “natural” or “uncontrollable” events.
With stories about global water stress, the boom in fentanyl trafficking at the US-Mexico border, the devastating fires in Maui, and strategies for taking penalty kicks.
Our mapping of top data journalism links from August 16 to 22 found maps by The New York Times and Washington Post showing chaos at Kabul airport as thousands flee the Taliban, an investigation into heat-related deaths by NPR and Columbia Journalism School, a look at a mysterious poster campaign attempting to smear Germany’s Green party, and a comprehensive visualization of Earth biodiversity.
In this edition of The GIJN Toolbox — which surveys the latest tips and tools for investigative journalists — we’ll take a look at the process of analyzing satellite imagery derived from infrared radiation, a technique The New York Times used to cover a West Coast wildfire. We’ll also explore the controversial practice of using facial recognition technology, how to request NASA satellite data, a new document search tool from Google, and more.
Gearing up for Halloween? You’ll want to refer to our NodeXL #ddj mapping from October 19 to 25. We found FiveThirtyEight’s ultimate Halloween candy ranking from the archives to please the palates of finicky trick-or-treaters. This edition also includes The Economist’s mathematical model to determine whether Formula 1 racing success depends on its driver or the car engineer; The Globe and Mail examines bias in Canada’s prison system; and El Pais looks into how to reduce the probability of COVID-19 transmissions indoors.
