Featured photojournalist: Jim Lo Scalzo

A dead oak tree glows under a full moon in a salt pan. Deep in the desert of southern California sits one of the worst environmental sites in America, a former tourist destination that has turned into a toxic soup: the Salton Sea Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

High salinity levels have had disastrous consequences for the Salton Sea's marine life Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

An abandoned trailer is lit by a full moon Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

A street sign marks an undeveloped road in Salton City Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

An abandoned building sits in a salt pan near Bombay beach, California Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Dead tilapia lit by the morning sun Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

A street sign marks the end of the road in Salton City. Erosion and high toxicity levels from farm runoff has left the nearby Salton Sea increasingly contaminated, and lakeside towns like this one all but deserted Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

The late afternoon sun glints off an abandoned trailer Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

A full moon rises above the Salton Sea and the nearby Chocolate Mountains Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

An abandoned building lit by a full moon Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

The sun begins to rise above the Salton Sea Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Once branded California's answer to the French Riviera, the area is now desolate Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

A derelict building sits in a salt pan near Bombay Beach Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

The trunks of dying palm trees rise on the shores of Salton Sea Beach Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA