In sprawling landfills, thousands of Argentinian families scavenge for survival amid toxic waste and government neglect, dreaming of steady jobs and escape

The sun rises over the plateau of Neuquén’s open-air rubbish tip. Maia, nine, and her brothers, aged 11 and seven, huddle by a campfire. Their mother, Gisel, rummages through bags that smell of rotten fruit and meat.

Situated at the northern end of Argentinian Patagonia, 100km (60 miles) from Vaca Muerta – one of the world’s largest fossil gas reserves – children here roam amid twisted metal, glass and rubbish spread over five hectares (12 acres). The horizon is waste.

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© Photograph: Paula Soler/The Guardian

© Photograph: Paula Soler/The Guardian

© Photograph: Paula Soler/The Guardian

Still rare only 20 years ago, the charismatic animals are in almost every UK river and a conservation success story

On a quiet Friday evening, an otter and a fox trot through Lincoln city centre. The pair scurry past charity shops and through deserted streets, the encounter lit by the security lamps of shuttered takeaways. Each animal inspects the nooks and crannies of the high street before disappearing into the night, ending the unlikely scene captured by CCTV last month.

Unlike the fox, the otter has been a rare visitor in towns and cities across the UK. But after decades of intense conservation work, that is changing. In the past year alone, the aquatic mammal has been spotted on a river-boat dock in London’s Canary Wharf, dragging an enormous fish along a riverbank in Stratford-upon-Avon, and plundering garden ponds near York. One otter was even filmed causing chaos in a Shetland family’s kitchen in March.

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© Photograph: birdphoto.co.uk/Alamy

© Photograph: birdphoto.co.uk/Alamy

© Photograph: birdphoto.co.uk/Alamy

Levels during boarding and taxiing were far above those defined as high by the World Health Organization

A study has revealed the concentrations of ultrafine particles breathed in by airline passengers.

A team of French researchers, including those from Université Paris Cité, built a pack of instruments that was flown alongside passengers from Paris Charles de Gaulle to European destinations. The machinery was placed on an empty seat in the front rows or in the galley.

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© Photograph: Frank Armstrong/Getty Images

© Photograph: Frank Armstrong/Getty Images

© Photograph: Frank Armstrong/Getty Images

For hundreds of millions of Indians, toxic winter air poisons bodies, constricts lives and wears down spirits.

© Vani Bhushan for The New York Times

Avec un gouvernement accaparé par d’autres sujets, la fin des zones à faibles émissions (ZFE) est loin d’être actée. On fait le point.

Un nouveau rapport international tire la sonnette d’alarme. Derrière des constats déjà connus, une menace plus vaste se dessine : celle d’un enchaînement de crises environnementales étroitement liées et beaucoup plus difficile à enrayer qu’on ne l’imaginait. Les scientifiques y voient un moment...

Deux nouvelles études détaillent certains risques environnementaux pendant la grossesse, entre polluants éternels et perturbateurs endocriniens.

En seulement cinq ans, le nombre de satellites en orbite basse autour de la Terre a presque été multiplié par dix. C’est une bonne nouvelle du point de vue des services qu’ils nous rendent. Mais des scientifiques commencent à s’inquiéter des conséquences.