"Ten years after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, 2010, Louisiana is one of five states reaping the benefits of a $20.8 billion settlement with BP PLC, the largest in U.S. history. If all goes as planned, the $200 million project will not only revive the Maurepas Swamp but provide a natural buffer from deadly hurricanes."

"Before this underwater forest disappears, scientists recently raced to search for shipworms and other sea life that might conceal medicines of the future."

"Water temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico are running more than three degrees above average, increasing the prospects for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes this spring and potentially stronger hurricane activity in the summer and fall."

"There’s a hidden cost to the way Florida’s farmers bring in the sugar crop. Just visit the hospitals and measure the climate impact."

"Up close is not the best way to see the world’s biggest gate. Viewed from one end, where a three-story hinge links to a massive steel lattice, the Maeslant storm surge barrier resembles three crane towers toppled across one another."

"Standing in his boat in Florida’s Apalachicola Bay, Michael Dasher lowered a long pair of tongs into the water, pulling up a muddy mass of oysters that his son sorted, keeping those big enough to sell and tossing the rest back into the brackish bay."

"When recent heavy rains swelled a private Mississippi lake and began eroding its earthen dam, Yazoo County Emergency Management Director Jack Willingham was scrambling for a plan. He had no contact information for any of the homeowners who might need to evacuate, so he drove to the scene and began knocking on doors."