Geo-Journalism: What It Is And How Nigerian Journalists Are Using It
The climate crisis has entered a new phase, and climate disasters are beginning to become more commonplace. African countries have been bearing a lot of the cost of the crisis. Consider Nigeria, which just saw floods that killed over 600 people and displaced over a million others. With the stakes of climate change growing higher every day, a new need for monitoring climate patterns and disasters has arisen.
Enter geo-journalism in the form of Eco-Nai+. Eco-Nai+ uses environmental data on droughts, rainfall and erosion, while also tracking natural disasters, to keep tabs on climate change’s ongoing repercussions. The coordinator of the platform, Chinedu Chidi, said that the goal of the project was to make an inclusive platform to give journalists the tools they need to fight the ongoing information war on climate change.
“We wanted to create a platform with the buy-in of the people so that user-generated data can be sourced for effective geo-journalism intervention," said Chidi. “Since the launch [of Eco-Nai+], we have been filling the information gap on climate and environment-related issues in Nigeria.”
Chidi added:
“The climate crisis demands a sense of urgency and sustained meaningful action, not just by some, but by all of us. This is why Eco-Nai+ is mobilizing an army of stakeholders for this great cause…From rural community dwellers, to researchers and journalists scattered across the continent, we’re helping to unite diverse groups for the singular purpose of saving the planet.”
Eco-Nai+ uses scientific data and authoritative sources as a backbone for its platform, but with a crucial third component: user input. Users can generate their own data based on climate disasters they are observing in their own areas, including unexpected flooding, inclement weather, or fires. It also updates constantly—assessing carbon levels, ice levels in the Arctic, ocean and heat data, and topography—as that data becomes available. The platform has a few tools–a couple for interpreting data, including one that visualizes the data for the user, and a chat room called “Ecober” which is meant to bring minds together for crowdfunded and sourced ideas.
Executive director Samuel Ibener said that he hoped for this to just be the beginning of Eco-Nai+’s influence.
“We are looking at the creation of a far-reaching geo-journalism ecosystem for Africa that will feature an Africa-focused geo-journalism hub where journalists can access tools, training and resources,” he said.
Appropriately, all of Eco-Nai+’s data comes from open sources and can be easily cross referenced with other global issues: Google Earth provides a lot of this data, for example, and scientists have used this technology to map uncharted forests. This is also a major tool for scientists to track deforestation across Earth—another environmental factor that is both an abettor of and exacerbated by climate change.
The climate crisis seems distant for some people, but for the people of Nigeria, it is far too real. Flooding isn’t the only problem—large parts of the coastal country are facing drought and desertification. Fresh water sources are disappearing and biodiversity is shrinking. The climate crisis has only just begun and both scientists and journalists alike are only now learning how to spot the patterns. Widespread adoption of and attention to this data could well save some Nigerian lives in the not-so-distant future.
