"With climate change transforming the Arctic, biologists are scrambling to understand the impact on gray whales and other creatures living in the region."

Delegates at a meeting in Doha, Qatar, of the parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) neared the March 25 close of the 13-day meeting. They rejected proposals to regulate trade in three shark species, but accepted regulation of a fourth shark species. They held off sales of stockpiled elephant ivory for another three years. They rejected  ban on trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna and polar bears.

"One of the world's largest oilfield services companies continued to tell U.S. EPA it was complying with an agreement barring the injection of diesel fuel near drinking-water aquifers, documents show, after admitting to Congress that it had violated the pact."

"Close to 40 percent of Puget Sound's shorelines have been covered in concrete or otherwise walled off from the tides. State officials say restoring the health of Puget Sound will require removing some of those walls. But it's local governments that control the shore, and property owners want to build more seawalls as coastal developments expand."