It’s one thing to read about climate change, but it’s another to see it in action. The Washington Post today introduced the anchor of its new “Climate Lab” vertical — a visual and data-driven column about climate, environment and extreme weather. Award-winning journalist Harry Stevens will write this experimental feature — the first of its kind – as well as produce graphics and data analysis for it.
The column, which will combine reporting and analysis, cutting-edge interactive graphics, and new features aimed at making our journalism more accessible and transparent to our readers, will appear bi-weekly on Climate Lab. The new vertical is The Post’s home for data analysis and visualizations about our changing planet.
“Harry Stevens’ groundbreaking work is the perfect fit for The Post’s expansion of climate coverage, with his dazzling ability to visualize complex concepts and emerging trends,” said Zachary Goldfarb, Climate & Environment editor. “Climate Lab will help readers understand – and question – climate-related issues in a unique and innovative format.”
In place of looming dread, the column will be driven by curiosity and open-mindedness. In his Will global warming make temperature less deadly?, Stevens examines the question of whether people could be exposed to less dangerous temperatures in a warmer world. The column and accompanying interactive, built by Stevens, will offer a nuanced answer.
The columns offer readers both new distillations of the work in a “What’s at stake” module, as well as a rare and new approach to dig deep into the data in a new “Check my work” feature. Through these features and others, Stevens will forge a close relationship with his readers as he -- and they -- seek to understand the forces upending our planet.
Stevens is best known for his work as the author of one of the most-viewed articles in the history of The Post — an innovative visualization at the start of the pandemic showing how disease outbreaks spread exponentially and how to flatten the curve — and also contributed graphics and reporting to the “2C: Beyond the Limit” series that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism.
Climate Lab is edited by Monica Ulmanu, The Post’s Climate visual enterprise editor, who has also overseen the visual work behind The Post’s award-winning climate and environmental journalism. Other contributions will come from members of The Post’s climate visuals team, including John Muyskens, Naema Ahmed, Simon Ducroquet and Niko Kommenda. Recent stories have looked at the environmental toll of the food we eat, the role of trees in the recent atmospheric rivers that ravaged California, and possibilities for staying under the 1.5 Celsius global warming goal.
Climate Lab is part of The Post’s dramatic Climate and Environment coverage expansion, which includes more than 30 journalists, expanded weather coverage, the introduction of the Climate Coach column and newsletter, as well as additional columns focused on animals and the Earth.
You can find Climate Lab here.