The coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate headlines, but April 22, 2020 is also newsworthy as the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

One year ago, on Earth Day 2019, the Long Beach Post published a landmark investigative series called Close to Home, about how climate change is already impacting Long Beach, how it’s shaping the future of our community, and the efforts underway to address the crisis.

With the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we’re republishing the Close to Home investigation.

In the decades ahead, climate change will endanger Long Beach neighborhoods, foul the air, raise temperatures and create droughts and more ferocious storms. It’s challenging news when our community is surrounded by the even more urgent challenging news of the COVID-19 crisis, but it was important to bring the series back today.

I’m proud of this investigation and I’m proud of the journalists, editors and staff of the Long Beach Post. Recently, the Close to Home series received top honors in the state of California as the best public service journalism effort by any newsroom of any size, anywhere in the state last year.

Honored in the ranks of landmark and essential reporting from talented journalists from newsrooms like the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, it was this project from the Long Beach Post which took the highest honors in the California Journalism Awards for broad coverage of an issue of the greatest common concern.

Thank you for reading Close to Home on this important Earth Day. Thank you for reading and supporting the Long Beach Post.