The shortlist for the coveted Bird Photographer of the Year awards has been announced by Nature Photographers and the British Trust for Ornithology. Here: Red-billed oxpecker on an impala, Kruger National Park, South Africa. (Photo by Edmund Aylmer/BPOTY/Cover Images/The Guardian)

New Year's Eve fireworks display illuminates the sky over the Dom Tower on January 01, 2012 in Utrecht, Netherlands. The Dom tower is with 112.5 metres high the tallest church tower of the Netherlands. Built in Gothic-style, the tower, part of the Cathedral of Saint Martin, is the symbol of the city of Utrecht. (Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)

Fireworks light up the skyline over Sydney Harbour during the midnight fireworks session as Sydney Celebrates New Year's Eve with the theme of “Time To Dream” on on January 1, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

The sun rises between Sgurr nan Gillean and Knight’s Peak, Black Cuillin, Isle of Skye. (Photo by Adrian Trendall/Mountain Photo of the Year)

Dhofar Region, Oman. Much of Oman is desert, but the Arabian Sea coast in the Dhofar region represents a startling difference in climate. This coastal region catches the monsoon rains, or khareef, during the summer months. Drenching rains fall primarily on the mountainous ridge that separates the lush, fertile areas along the coast from the arid interior, recharging streams, waterfalls and springs that provide plentiful water supplies in the fertile lowlands for the remainder of the year. Image taken by Landsat 5 on April 2, 2005. (Photo by USGS/NASA)

A young protester takes part in a protest near Tahrir Square to call for the fall of Islamist President on January 24, 2012 in Cairo. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP Photo via The Atlantic)

“The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukrainian SSR, which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Western USSR and Europe. It is widely considered to have been the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and is one of only two classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale (the other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster)”. – Wikipedia (Photos by Alexandr Strannik, August 1986; Source: LiveJournal)

Rihanna arrives at the GQ Men Of The Year Party at Chateau Marmont Hotel on November 13, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)