"Oil and gas companies that are using hydraulic fracturing -- or fracking -- off the Southern California coast must report chemicals discharged into the ocean under new requirements released Thursday by federal environmental regulators."
[Sick orange trees are] "the new norm in the Sunshine State, where about half the trees in every citrus orchard are stricken with an incurable bacterial infection from China that goes by many names: huanglongbing, “yellow dragon disease” and “citrus greening.” Growers, agriculturalists and academics liken it to cancer. Roots become deformed. Fruits drop from limbs prematurely and rot. The trees slowly die."
"The rapid loss of top predators such as dingoes, leopards and lions is causing an environmental threat comparable to climate change, an international group of scientists has warned."
"Relief agencies were sending aid to Tonga on Monday amid reports of extensive damage to low-lying islands in the South Pacific archipelago after they were battered by a strong cyclone at the weekend."
"One of BP's attempts to curb payouts for what it says are 'fictitious' and 'absurd' claims related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill has failed after a legal appeal was rejected by a U.S. court."
"A permit to hunt a black rhino in Namibia sold for $350,000 at an auction in Dallas on Saturday with proceeds going to protect the endangered animals despite protests from animal rights groups that saw the sale as immoral conservation."
"The California Coastal Commission has approved development of the first shellfish ranch in federal waters, a 100-acre underwater plot for cultivating and harvesting about 2.6 million pounds of Mediterranean mussels a year."
"The New Jersey agency charged with protecting the Pinelands, a vast and fragile expanse of sand pines, gnarled oaks and river deltas, narrowly defeated a proposal on Friday to run a 22-mile natural gas pipeline through it."
"Four days after a coal-processing chemical leaked into the Elk River, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's administration and West Virginia American Water Company were once again unable to give a firm timeline for when water service would be restored to 300,000 residents in the Kanawha Valley."
In this issue: National Geographic photographer Steve Winter and writer Sharon Guynup tell the tiger's story; user's guide to foundation-backed journalism; e-book publishing; drones and enviro journalism; book reviews; interview with SEJ Award winner Sam Eaton; and photojournalism upheaval heralds multimedia’s rise.
