"The state and federal governments have decided not to pursue $92 million in additional damages from Exxon Mobil Corp., citing the recovery of ducks and sea otters in Alaska's Prince William Sound following a devastating oil spill more than two decades ago."

"The risk of food scarcity among countries important to the United States is likely to rise over the next decade, putting some places at risk of social and political unrest, according to a study from U.S. intelligence agencies."

"An Oklahoma oil company is challenging the state’s limits on drilling wastewater injections that came in response to a sharp increase in earthquakes."

"There are more than 87,000 dams in America and, like most infrastructure, they go largely unnoticed — until something goes wrong. That was the case in and around South Carolina's capital this week, when at least 20 dams collapsed during catastrophic floods."

"Hundreds of Wyoming residents were forced to flee a wind-driven wildfire that destroyed at least 10 homes even as a separate blaze in neighboring Idaho burned several cabins to the ground and prompted dozens to evacuate, fire managers said on Monday."

"Evidence is mounting that the El Nino ocean-warming phenomenon in the Pacific will spawn a rainy winter in California, potentially easing the state's punishing drought but also bringing the risk of chaotic storms like those that battered the region in the late 1990s."

"South Carolina's governor warned on Thursday that several coastal areas were about to be hit by a second round of major flooding, while residents inland hauled soaked furniture and appliances from homes left in ruins by unprecedented rainfall."

"COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Flooding from historic rainfall in South Carolina claimed two more lives on Wednesday, and the threat of further inundation from swollen rivers and vulnerable dams put already ravaged communities on edge."

"The U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday ended its search for missing crew of the cargo ship El Faro that sank off the Bahamas last week after sailing into the path of Hurricane Joaquin."