In this photo taken Wednesday, December 5, 2018, a woman who scavenges recyclable materials from garbage for a living is seen through a cloud of smoke from burning trash, surrounded by Marabou storks who feed on the garbage, at the dump in the Dandora slum of Nairobi, Kenya. As the world meets again to tackle the growing threat of climate change, how the continent tackles the growing solid waste produced by its more than 1.2 billion residents, many of them eager consumers in growing economies, is a major question in the fight against climate change. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)

A baby Sumatran orangutan is bathed after arriving at a wildlife center at Ratchaburi province in Thailand September 13, 2017. (Photo by Kerek Wongsa/Reuters)

Julia Gracheva and Anna Speak takes photos as they attend the 10th edition of “Diner en Blanc” at Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan September 19, 2022. The legendary all-white secret pop-up, the location of which is revealed hours before the event, draws over 5,500 guests who dress in head-to-toe white attire for an under the stars dining experience. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

“Cassowaries are large, flightless birds related to emus and (more distantly) to ostriches, rheas, and kiwis”, writes Olivia Judson in the September issue of National Geographic magazine. How large? People-size: Adult males stand well over five foot five and top 110 pounds. Females are even taller, and can weigh more than 160 pounds. Dangerous when roused, they’re shy and peaceable when left alone. But even birds this big and tough are prey to habitat loss. The dense New Guinea and Australia rain forests where they live have dwindled. Today cassowaries might number 1,500 to 2,000. And because they help shape those same forests – by moving seeds from one place to another – “if they vanish”, Judson writes, “the structure of the forest would gradually change” too. (Photo by Christian Ziegler/National Geographic)

A demonstrator is detained during May Day rallies in Santiago May 1, 2013. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)

“Great White Shark of Guadalupe Island”. A great white shark very quiet under the boat and a lot of fish. The sun ray lighting the head of the shark. Location: Guadalupe Island, Mexico. (Photo and caption by Marc Henauer/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

The villas of Marabe Al Dhafra in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates are home to approximately 2,000 people. Located in one of the hottest regions of the world, the record high temperature here is 49.2C° (120.6F°). (Photo by Benjamin Grant/Penguin Random House)