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The South American wetland, which falls within Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, would be vulnerable to biome loss and increased wildfires

• ‘Losing Noah’s Ark’: Brazil’s plan to turn the Pantanal into waterway threatens world’s biggest wetland

Dozens of scientists are sounding the alarm that carving a commercial waterway through the world’s largest wetlands could spell the “end of an entire biome”, and leave hundreds of thousands of hectares of land to be devastated by wildfires.

The Pantanal wetland – which falls within Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, covering an area almost half the size of Germany – is facing the proposed construction of a commercial waterway, as well as the expansion of industrial farming and spread of intense wildfires. A cohort of 40 scientists say the waterway development represents an existential threat to the ecosystem: reducing the floodplain, increasing the risk of fires and transforming the area into a landscape that could more easily be farmed.

A Thousand Thorns is a project by photographer Deepti Asthana documenting women’s changing aspirations in rural India through the story of two young female forest guards in Rajasthan’s Thar desert. Theirs is a scenario playing out in millions of homes – of the fight for equality and independence in a deeply patriarchal society

Coal and gas exports expected to remain roughly at current level until at least 2035 with 4.5% of emissions linked to Australia, report finds

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Australia’s coal and gas exports cause more climate damage than those from any other country bar Russia, according to a new study that argues the country is undermining a global agreement to transition away from fossil fuels.

The analysis, commissioned by the University of New South Wales’ Australian Human Rights Institute, found Australia was the third biggest fossil fuel exporter on an energy basis in 2021, trailing only Russia and the US.

Discovery of 20-year-old Leticia A Castillo’s body marks third reported death in national park since 31 July

A 20-year old woman was found dead in the Grand Canyon following a multi-day search.

In a statement, the National Park Service (NPS) announced that it had located a body below Twin Overlooks along Desert View Drive on Tuesday. The body was transported to the rim and transferred to the Coconino county medical examiner’s office.

Project to study all 11,000 species of butterflies and moths finds ‘two species in the act of being created from one’

The chalkhill blue has some surprising claims to fame. For a start, it is one of the UK’s most beautiful butterflies, as can be seen as they flutter above the grasslands of southern England in summer.

Then there is their close and unusual relationship with ants. Caterpillars of Lysandra coridon – found across Europe – exude a type of honeydew that is milked by ants and provides them with energy. In return, they are given protection in cells below ground especially created for them by the ants. Chalkhill blues thrive as a result, though their numbers are now coming under threat.

Paapa Essiedu and Stephen Dillane also sign open letter urging theatre to end Royal Bank of Canada’s support over its shares in fuel and arms

Actors including Mark Rylance, Paapa Essiedu and Stephen Dillane have signed an open letter calling on the Old Vic theatre to cut ties with a major sponsor over its links to fossil fuels, the Observer can reveal.

Signed by dozens of actors, playwrights, directors and other creatives, the letter calls on the historic London theatre to end links with its principal financial partner, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). The contract is up for renewal this year.

The group says the logging in a state-owned forest in Queensland is taking place less than 3km from a high-density population group of endangered greater gliders. Conservation groups want swathes of St Mary state forest near Maryborough to be included in the Queensland government's proposed Greater Glider Forest park

• After 25 years, logging and bushfires, a greater glider has been spotted in Deongwar state forest

For first time, moors must hold licence under regime aiming to reduce unlawful killing of birds of prey by gamekeepers

Wildlife campaigners are calling for even tougher policing of Scottish grouse moors on the eve of this year’s “Glorious Twelfth”, which marks the legal start of the grouse shooting season.

On Monday 12 August moors across the British uplands will echo to the sound of shotguns and estate vehicles.

Queensland Conservation Council is urging the state government to protect the endangered greater glider population as logging continues

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There is “damning evidence” of logging occurring close to endangered greater glider populations, conservationists say as they call on the Queensland government to urgently act on a promise to create a park to protect the species.

Volunteers used drones in July to film logging in St Mary state forest near Maryborough, about three kilometres from where gliders had been seen.

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Flea treatments for dogs, ant killer, washing-up liquid and herbicides may be partly to blame for decline in UK

Insect numbers are in freefall and most people know that pesticide use in agriculture is partly to blame.

But many domestic products including flea treatments for dogs, ant killer applications, washing-up liquid and herbicides can also contribute to the problem.

New research shows toxic ‘forever chemicals’ gas may escape landfills and threaten the environment

Toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” that leach from landfills into groundwater are among the major pollution sources in the US, and remain a problem for which officials have yet to find an effective solution.

Now new research has identified another route in which PFAS may escape landfills and threaten the environment at even higher levels: the air.

Most data stored on power-hungry servers is used once then never looked at again

When “I can has cheezburger?” became one of the first internet memes to blow our minds, it’s unlikely that anyone worried about how much energy it would use up.

But research has now found that the vast majority of data stored in the cloud is “dark data”, meaning it is used once then never visited again. That means that all the memes and jokes and films that we love to share with friends and family – from “All your base are belong to us”, through Ryan Gosling saying “Hey Girl”, to Tim Walz with a piglet – are out there somewhere, sitting in a datacentre, using up energy. By 2030, the National Grid anticipates that datacentres will account for just under 6% of the UK’s total electricity consumption, so tackling junk data is an important part of tackling the climate crisis.

Scotland’s Flow Country is the first peatland to become a world heritage site. It’s time we cherished these biodiverse landscapes

For centuries, peatlands have had a bad reputation. Possessing neither the majesty of the mountains nor the pastoral beauty of a meadow, they have been tarred as dangerous, ugly and useless. Travellers have long feared being swallowed into their murky depths: “If his foot slip … it is possible he may never more be heard of,” wrote the cleric William Gilpin in 1772, expressing a common sentiment at the time.

But now the image of this ecosystem is finally on the mend. Unesco has inscribed the Flow Country as a world heritage site – the first peatland to make the list. From now on, this 190,000-hectare (470,000-acre) expanse of the Scottish Highlands will sit alongside the Great Barrier Reef and the primaeval forests of the Carpathians as a landscape of international significance.

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

Areas where farmers provide good habitats show notable increase in butterflies, bees, bats and breeding birds

Butterflies, bees and bats are among the wildlife being boosted by England’s nature-friendly farming schemes, new government research has found.

Birds were among the chief beneficiaries of the strategy, particularly ones that largely feed on invertebrates. An average of 25% more breeding birds were found in areas with more eco-friendly schemes.

Particle pollution in China’s capital has fallen by 60% in 10 years, but it remains six times higher than WHO guidelines

Photographs of smog enveloping Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium became one of the defining images of the first decade of this century. China’s annual air pollution deaths reached 2.6 million people a year in 2005. At the time, Beijing was crowned smog capital of the world and concerns for the health of athletes overshadowed preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games.

But rapid improvements followed, with clean-up technologies fitted to coal-burning power stations and industrial plants, followed by their conversion to fossil gas. New vehicles were fitted with tighter emissions controls and fuels were improved.

Drax received £22bn in subsidies despite being UK’s largest emitter in 2023, though company rejects ‘flawed’ research

The Drax power station was responsible for four times more carbon emissions than the UK’s last remaining coal-fired plant last year, despite taking more than £0.5bn in clean-energy subsidies in 2023, according to a report.

The North Yorkshire power plant, which burns wood pellets imported from North America to generate electricity, was revealed as Britain’s single largest carbon emitter in 2023 by a report from the climate thinktank Ember.

Another report found pesticide levels posing ‘significant risks’ in 20% of tested fruits and vegetables

A new scientific report lends weight to consumer concerns about pesticide residues on food, presenting fresh evidence that washing fruit before eating does not remove various toxic chemicals commonly used in agriculture.

The paper, published on Wednesday in the American Chemical Society’s journal Nano Letters, comes amid ongoing debate over the extent of pesticide contamination of food, and the potential health risks associated with a steady diet that includes pesticide residues.

Climate scientists say that the world is continuing to warm, despite brief respite in record breaking temperatures

Earth’s string of 13 straight months with a new average heat record came to an end this past July as the natural El Niño climate pattern ebbed, the European climate agency Copernicus announced on Wednesday.

But July 2024’s average heat just missed surpassing last year’s July, and scientists said the end of the record-breaking streak changes nothing about the threat posed by the climate crisis.

The new government has made a fast start in mobilising Britain’s most obvious natural asset, but big challenges remain

In its pomp during the 1970s, Ardersier port near Inverness was a behemoth of Scottish industry. During the North Sea oil and gas boom, thousands worked on one of the largest rig construction sites in the world. Disused since 2001, the port is making a triumphant comeback, to be reconfigured as a giant hub for the turbines that will harness wind power off the Scottish coast. If Sir Keir Starmer’s government is to achieve its goal of fully decarbonising electricity by 2030, this huge investment project in the Highlands will need to be matched by similar ambition elsewhere.

Wind energy is fundamental to meeting Britain’s net zero commitments, generating growth and reducing energy costs. But under Rishi Sunak, the sector suffered a lost year in 2023, when the government failed to award a single offshore wind contract. In July, the Climate Change Committee estimated that by 2030, the number of annual offshore and onshore wind installations needed to at least triple and double, respectively.