No. 91, Aug. 1, 2019

Hello Revelator readers,

You may have heard some good news this week — that the number of wild tigers in India has jumped 30 percent in the last four years. Too good to be true? We looked behind the numbers to see how tigers are really faring and found both reasons for cheer and concern.

August has arrived, and that means so has our list of the best new books. This month's "Revelator Reads" includes an entire series for kids, a look at plastic in our food, thoughts from Standing Rock, the future of bluefin tuna and more. Fire up your tablets or head to the library.

With a plastic-pollution crisis in full swing, you may be wondering if substituting bioplastic for the regular stuff is an environmentally friendly swap. As this article explains, the answer is more complicated than it seems.

How will climate change and a dearth of cheap fossil fuels affect our food? We talked to farmer and Post Carbon Institute Board President Jason Bradford about what changes he thinks are coming and why it'll revitalize rural areas.

Subscriber bonus: The Wild 5

Let's go a little deeper. Here are five additional stories we're watching this week.

1. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt has tapped William Perry Pendley — a conservative lawyer who favors selling off public lands — as acting head of the Bureau of Land Management.

2. A new investigation finds that a deepening climate crisis is helping drive human migration from Central America.

3. Research finds that sharks are threatened by commercial fishing in even the most remote parts of the ocean, leading to calls for catch limits on the high seas.

4. Harmful flame-retardant chemicals phased out long ago are still showing up in everything from children's toys to kitchen utensils, and researchers are trying to find out why.

5. Ethiopians set a new record, planting 353 million trees in 12 hours as part of a reforestation campaign with a goal of 4 billion trees by the end of October.

In case you missed it:

It's Shark Week! Is what you're watching actually real? Here's a look at how rampant "fakery" is in the wildlife film business and why it's so dangerous for sharks and conservation efforts.

What should we cover next?

Drop us a line anytime. We welcome your ideas and inside scoops.

Coming up:

We're hard at work on a wide range of new stories and essays for you, including looks at the recent scientific findings on fracking's health risks and efforts to protect rhinos from poaching.

Look for our links in next week's newsletter — or follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the headlines as they go live. We share other interesting news there, too!

As always, thank you for reading.