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

Announcement draws anger from Labour MP over refusal to remove tonnes of rubbish dumped near school in Wigan

The Environment Agency is to spend millions of pounds to clear an enormous illegal rubbish dump in Oxfordshire, saying the waste is at risk of catching fire.

But the decision announced on Thursday to clear up the thousands of tonnes of waste illegally dumped outside Kidlington has drawn an angry response from a Labour MP in Greater Manchester whose constituents have been living alongside 25,000 tonnes of toxic rubbish for nearly a year.

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© Photograph: Jacob King/PA

© Photograph: Jacob King/PA

© Photograph: Jacob King/PA

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

Exclusive: Use of toxic plastic beads in treatment works is unnecessary and outdated, say conservationists

The use of tiny, toxic plastic beads at sewage works should be banned nationwide, an MP and wildlife experts have said after a devastating spill at an internationally important nature reserve.

Hundreds of millions of “biobeads” washed up on Camber Sands beach in East Sussex last month, after a failure at a Southern Water sewage treatment works caused a catastrophic spill. It has distressed and alarmed local people and conservationists, as not only are the beads unsightly but they pose a deadly threat to wildlife.

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© Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

© Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

© Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Cristina Dorador is on an urgent mission in the world’s driest desert, the Atacama in Chile. As the rise of drug-resistant superbugs kills millions per year, Cristina has made it her mission to uncover new, life-saving antibiotics in the stunning salt flats she has studied since she was 14. Against the magnificent backdrop of endless plains, microscopic discoveries lead her team of scientists to question how critically lithium mining is damaging the delicate ecosystem and impacting Indigenous communities

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© Photograph: The Guardian

© Photograph: The Guardian

© Photograph: The Guardian

The president’s energy strategy is projected to generate more pollution, but so far production has not risen significantly and price drops have been modest, analysts say.

© Eli Hartman/Reuters

Ridership jumped, people cut back on driving and, over the summer, the city extended the program another year.

© Annick Sjobakken for The New York Times

Scientists analyzed thousands of autopsies of seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals and found that even small amounts of ingested plastic can be deadly.

© Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press

Nations were poised to approve the first fee on pollution from ships. That’s when the Trump administration began the threats.

© Nathalia Angarita for The New York Times

Studies increasingly find links between higher concentrations of certain pollutants and the prevalence of dementia.

© Lehel Kovács