English Oak (Quercus robur)
Spring foliage on a solitary English Oak tree (Quercus robur), also known as Pedunculate Oak, in North Dorset, UK.
Beech (Fagus)
Branches and foliage of Beech (Fagus) in the spring.
Lone tree in flower on a hill
Lone tree in flower on a hill. Photographed in Altnau, Thurgau, Switzerland, in May.
Cracked mud and seedling
Cracked mud and seedling.
Beech woodland
Beech woodland. Misty autumnal morning in a woodland area of beech trees (Fagus sylvatica). Photographed in Codden Hill, Devon, England.
Volcanic lightning, Iceland, April 2010
Volcanic lightning. Time-exposure image of lightning in and around a large ash column produced during the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruptions. Volcanic lightning is the release of electric charge that builds up as rising ash mixes with the atmosphere. The activity under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier started in March, with a major eruption taking place on 14 April, sending ash high into the atmosphere. Carried by the wind, this ash led to the closure of large parts of European airspace for several days. This is a 15-second exposure, taken on 18 April 2010.
Volcanic lightning, Iceland, April 2010
Volcanic lightning. Time-exposure image of lightning in and around a large ash column produced during the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruptions. Volcanic lightning is the release of electric charge that builds up as rising ash mixes with the atmosphere. The activity under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier started in March, with a major eruption taking place on 14 April, sending ash high into the atmosphere. Carried by the wind, this ash led to the closure of large parts of European airspace for several days. This is a 15-second exposure, taken on 18 April 2010.
Volcanic lightning, Iceland, April 2010
Volcanic lightning. Time-exposure image of lightning in and around a large ash column produced during the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruptions. Volcanic lightning is the release of electric charge that builds up as rising ash mixes with the atmosphere. The activity under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier started in March, with a major eruption taking place on 14 April, sending ash high into the atmosphere. Carried by the wind, this ash led to the closure of large parts of European airspace for several days. This is a relatively short time-exposure image, taken on 18 April 2010.
Environmentally friendly, artwork
Environmentally friendly, conceptual artwork.
GM gone wrong, conceptual image
GM gone wrong, conceptual image. Computer artwork representing the questions over the use of genetically modified food.
Aurora borealis
Aurora borealis over mountains and trees by a river. This coloured light display (the northern lights) is visible in the night sky at high latitudes. It occurs when charged and energetic particles from the Sun (the solar wind) are drawn by Earth's magnetic field to the polar regions. Hundreds of kilometres up, they collide with gas molecules and atoms, causing them to emit light. Photographed by the Koyukuk River, near Wiseman, Alaska, USA.
Hurricane-generated swells
Hurricane-generated swells. These swells were produced as Hurricane Jimena approached Cabo San Carlos, Mexico, on 31 August 2009. Hurricane Jimena reached its peak on 1 September 2009 as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 250 kilometres per hour. It made landfall in Baja California, Mexico, on 2 September 2009 as a Category 2 hurricane, causing widespread damage and flooding, and leaving three people dead.
Sunrise, Falkland Islands
Sunrise. Sun rising over a coastal seascape of islands with a boat in a bay, on the Falkland Islands. Around the time of the austral (southern) midsummer the sun rises just after 4am local time. Photographed on Carcass Island.
Star trails
Star trails. Time exposure image of star trails over Lake Brennilis, Brittany, France. The very bright object at lower centre is Venus.
Sunset
Sunset. Montage image of the sun setting on the horizon, creating a mirage of the sun 'melting' at its lower edge.
Sunset
Sunset. Montage image of the sun setting on the horizon, creating a mirage of the sun 'melting' at its lower edge.
Beech trees
Beech trees. Misty autumnal morning in a woodland area of beech trees (Fagus sylvatica). The smooth beech trunks are festooned with lichens and the base of the trunk is covered in mosses and the round leaves of the pennywort (Umbilicus rupestris). Photographed in Codden Hill, Devon, England.
Huge electrical storm, USA
Huge electrical storm. Long exposure photograph of lightning striking the ground during a thunderstorm. Photographed over the city of Tucson, Arizona, USA, on 1st August 2008.
Noctilucent cloud
Noctilucent cloud over trees. This type of cloud, also known as polar mesospheric, is visible only in deep twilight and is seen mostly during the summer. It is the highest cloud type in the Earth's atmosphere and occurs only when sunlight illuminates it from below the horizon, while the ground and lower layers of the atmosphere are in the Earth's shadow. Photographed in Turku, Finland, in July.
Supercell thunderstorm over fields, USA
Supercell thunderstorm over fields. A supercell thunderstorm is a severe long-lived storm within which the wind speed and direction changes with height. This produces a strong rotating updraft of warm air, known as a mesocyclone, and a separate downdraft of cold air. This was the most prolific supercell thunderstorm of 2009. The storm was over 30 miles (48 kilometres) wide and persisted for 9 hours. Photographed near Valentine, Nebraska, USA, on 13th July 2009.