Reporting Drought in the American West
Thursday, August 5
10:00 am PT – 1:00 pm ET
Media Invitation:
Thursday Aug 5, 2021
1:00 pm ET / 10:00 am PT
Register Here
“The Everything Disaster”
Reporting Drought in the American West
Scarce water and unrelenting heat are rattling the states west of the Mississippi River. Wildfires this year have already charred more than 1.5 million acres and darkened the skies for thousands of miles. Household wells are going dry, large reservoirs on the Colorado River are dangerously low, and farmers from California to Oregon and Idaho are being told no irrigation water is available. Salmon and marine life, meanwhile, are succumbing to record-breaking heat.
Is this an unusually severe drought — or something altogether different?
On August 5, join a roundtable of experienced journalists and subject-matter experts to discuss the drying of the American West, what it means, and how to report it.
In this hour-long event, a lively discussion and Q&A, you will learn:
- data sources and tools for finding current statistics on reservoir levels, fire movements, dry well reports, crop conditions, and more.
- story ideas
- scientific context for the region’s drought crisis
- Spot the special interests and avoid the pitfalls and clichés
This media-only event follows the public online event, Drought in the American West: The Everything Disaster. (Learn more about the August 4 event here.)
Moderator
Trish Williams
Climate & Environment Editor, The Washington Post
Panel (see below for options)
- Brett Walton, Senior Reporter, Circle of Blue
- Faith Kerns, California Institute for Water Resources
- Reporter
- Indigenous (?)
Subject Matter Experts
Peter Gleick, president emeritus, Pacific Institute
Heather Cooley, director of research, Pacific Institute
(one for panel, both for Q&A)
MEDIA KIT
Engage. Share. Participate.
Invite your colleagues, friends, followers, students and wider communities to join award-winning journalists from Circle of Blue and leading experts from the pacific Institute, Vector Center, and others on the front lines for a first-hand, live briefing and public Q&A about the drought in the American West.
Use these buttons and blurbs on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, newsletters, LinkedIn posts and your other outlets. Spread the word, and we hope you’ll join the conversation, too.
Click here to add your own text
Facebook:
Sample Facebook Copy:
On August 4, join award-winning journalists from Circle of Blue and leading experts from the Pacific Institute, Vector Center, and others on the front lines for a first-hand, live briefing and public Q&A about the drought in the American West.
Drought is upon us — with major implications for human health, biodiversity, agriculture, food security, supply chains, cities, land use, and the most very basic of human rights.
This is a story now only worsened by a climate emergency, which has brought higher temperatures, more extreme conditions, and heightened risks.
But as water scarcity sweeps the West, many see this as the imperative moment for rapid innovation in agriculture, technology, nature-based systems, and policy to manage dwindling supplies.
Register at: https://www.circleofblue.org/event-registration/
Instagram:
Sample Instagram Copy:
On August 4, join award-winning journalists from Circle of Blue and leading experts from the Pacific Institute, Vector Center, and others on the front lines for a first-hand, live briefing and public Q&A about the drought in the American West.
Drought is upon us — with major implications for human health, biodiversity, agriculture, food security, supply chains, cities, land use, and the most very basic of human rights.
This is a story now only worsened by a climate emergency, which has brought higher temperatures, more extreme conditions, and heightened risks.
But as water scarcity sweeps the West, many see this as the imperative moment for rapid innovation in agriculture, technology, nature-based systems, and policy to manage dwindling supplies.
Register at: https://www.circleofblue.org/event-registration/
Suggested Hashtags:
#USDrought #TheDryingAmericanWest #Drought #Water #waterscarcity #biodiversity #agriculture #foodsecurity #humanrights #climatechange
