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Brazilian president has dissolved Renca to attract investment in region thought to contain gold, with critics warning of irreversible damage

The Brazilian president Michel Temer has abolished an Amazonian reserve the size of Denmark, prompting concerns of an influx of mineral companies, road-builders and workers into the species-rich forest.

The dissolution of the Renca reserve – which spans 46,000 sq km on the border of the Amapa and Para states – was described by one opposition senator Randolfe Rodrigues of the Sustainability Network party, as the “biggest attack on the Amazon of the last 50 years”.

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Interior secretary Ryan Zinke says his recommendations include boundary adjustments for some locations among 27 national monuments

Conservation safeguards on a “handful” of national monuments across the US could be rolled back following the delivery on Thursday of the White House’s long-awaited review of such public lands, interior secretary Ryan Zinke said.

Related: Trump's day of doom for national monuments approaches

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Hundreds of years after the dodo died out, new facts are emerging about the life history of the bird.

Climate change has thawed Arctic enough for $300m gas tanker to travel at record speed through northern sea route

A Russian tanker has travelled through the northern sea route in record speed and without an icebreaker escort for the first time, highlighting how climate change is opening up the high Arctic.

The $300m Christophe de Margerie carried a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Hammerfest in Norway to Boryeong in South Korea in 22 days, about 30% quicker than the conventional southern shipping route through the Suez Canal.

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A commercial LNG tanker sails across the colder, northern route to Asia without an ice breaking ship.

Wildfires in the US and Africa, tropical storms, and Bolivian salt flats are among the images captured by Nasa and the ESA last month

Pakistan’s Makran coast meets the Arabian Sea where the dry terrain contrasts sharply with the water. Sometimes coast and water overlap and sediment pours into the sea. Once river water and sediment reach the ocean they are swept along by currents. Inland, the landscape is rugged. Narrow valleys provide pastures for sheep amid the desert.

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In the USA, the southeastern states are most vulnerable to the costly impacts from human-caused climate change

Humans are causing Earth’s climate to change. We know that. We’ve known it for decades. Okay so what? The follow-up questions should be directed to what the effects of warming will be. What will the costs be to society, to the natural biosystem, and to human lives? Let’s be honest, if the consequences of warming are not large, then who cares? But, if the consequences are severe, then we should take action now to reduce the warming. This really comes down to costs and benefits. Are the benefits of reducing emissions greater or less than the costs?

But there is a nuance to the answer. The costs are not uniformly distributed. Some regions will suffer more and other regions will suffer less. In fact, some regions will actually benefit in a warming climate. We understand that the world is interconnected and costs will inevitably be shared to some extent. But it is clear we won’t all suffer the same.

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Scientists are divided on whether snow leopards are still endangered species, a BBC investigation finds.

Could the world be 100 per cent renewable by 2050?

Victoria aims to source 40 per cent of its energy from renewables. Is it possible?

Frydenberg asks ARENA, CEFC and Infrastructure and Project Financing Agency for advice on government's promised $110m equity investment Port Augusta solar tower plant.

Mark Z. Jacobson and 26 of his colleagues have compiled a report that shows exactly how 139 nations could transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050 without throwing millions of people out of work.

As climate impacts mounts, there is a growing push for a 1.5°C target. This would mean reaching 100% renewable energy within 20 years. Australia could lead, and reap enormous economic benefits.

Neoen says it may treble size of its Nurmukah solar project off back of Victoria government tender win.

Infigen Energy reports a jump in profit for FY2107, as the company continues its transformation into an "active energy markets participant."

Sandy, Bedfordshire Nectar shoppers flutter out of nowhere, a mass of moths, midges and mosquitoes chopping across the torchlit path

Under a moonless, starless, benighted sky, head torches were switched on and we struck out across the riverside meadow. We had walked for several sure-footed minutes along a closely grazed towpath where white yarrow rosettes glowed like solar garden lights. The only hazards on that firm ground had been the nearly invisible giant plates that I stepped on and found to have hard crusts and soft hearts.

Related: Country diary: Sandy, Bedfordshire: The river is my guiding light

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Yesterday was an historic day for Victoria’s energy future. And there’s more good news on the way. Not that you would know it from listening to federal energy minister.

As industry rejects Standards Australia home battery ban proposal, AEMC calls for new body to govern standards for distributed energy market.

Windlab has become entitled to receive a milestone success payment of just over $10 million in respect of the Coopers Gap Wind Farm.

The Department of Energy’s study on grid reliability and resilience offers an incomplete picture of our grid’s transformation.