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Photograph by Mark Thiessen
From "Methane," National Geographic, December 2012The first clear ice of fall on an Alaskan lake captures methane that all summer long has bubbled from the bottom mud. In spring it will be released into the air. As permafrost melts, new lakes are forming all around the Arctic.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
From "Giant Sequoias," National Geographic, December 2012The living crown (this one atop the General Sherman, at center) was once a distant mystery. Scientist Steve Sillett’s new arboreal studies have yielded revelations, including this: These old trees are still growing fast.
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Photograph by Robert Clark, at the Toulouse Museum, France
From "Doggerland," National Geographic, December 2012Murdered, then buried together in a grave festooned with antlers, two women from a Mesolithic cemetery on Téviec Island in Brittany, France, pay witness to a violent age. The shrinking of territories due to sea-level rise may have brought neighboring populations into conflict.
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Photograph by Tim Laman
From "Birds of Paradise," National Geographic, December 2012Special muscles let the King of Saxony bird of paradise swing each antenna-like head feather through a 180-degree arc during courtship. Rows of miniature pennants decorate plumes that can grow to 20 inches.
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Photograph by Li Xin
From "Top Shots," National Geographic, December 2012One summer evening Li was snapping shots of clouds from his Beijing rooftop when lightning (at center left) lit up this towering thunderhead. The effect, says the 31-year-old photojournalist, reminded him of a mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion.
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Photograph by Mark Thiessen
From "Methane," National Geographic, December 2012No gassy belch goes unrecorded at the Teagasc Food Research Centre in Ireland. “Cows are walking fermentation chambers,” says researcher Matthew Deighton. But adding fat to their diet might reduce their copious methane emissions.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols
From "Giant Sequoias," National Geographic, December 2012Resolute and anchored in their remote habitat, the giant sequoias withstand the weight of winter snow and many other stresses. They have seen times and trends and peoples come and go; we are merely the latest.
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Photograph by Tim Laman
From "Birds of Paradise," National Geographic, December 2012A Western parotia struts his stuff. Known for their six head wires and ballerina-like “tutu” of stiff feathers, male parotias flash their iridescent breast feathers as they display for females. Each male clears a patch of forest floor several feet across, creating a stage where he performs a bizarre dance: hopping, prancing sideways, curtsying, and bobbing his head.
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Photograph by Carolyn Drake
From "Shamans," National Geographic, December 2012The peaks of Burkhan Rock rise like twin spires from Siberia’s Lake Baikal, the world’s largest body of fresh water. People across Asia believe that spirits associated with Baikal live in this rocky outcropping on Olkhon Island, destination of a steady stream of pilgrims.
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Photograph by Lisa Franceski
From "Top Shots," National Geographic, December 2012Ever mindful not to disturb baby birds, Franceski crawled through goose poop to photograph this flapping gosling at a pond on Long Island, New York. "I couldn't stop laughing," says the registered nurse, 48. "It looked like a football referee calling, Touchdown!"
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Photograph by Mark Thiessen
From "Methane," National Geographic, December 2012Brittle shale expands and cracks when brought up in a drill core from thousands of feet below. This sample is about two inches across. The white specks are salt crystals—residue from the ancient sea where the shale formed. To fracture shale underground and collect the gas trapped in its pores, gas companies pump millions of gallons of fracking fluids down a well.
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Photograph by Carolyn Drake
From "Shamans," National Geographic, December 2012A stone mound, or ovoo, in Mongolia marks a place where spirits are said to have appeared; respectful travelers circle it three times.
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Photograph by Tim Laman
From "Birds of Paradise," National Geographic, December 2012A twelve-wired bird of paradise calls in a New Guinea swamp. Males brush the dozen stiff feather shafts on their lower torsos against females’ faces before mating. Scientists aren’t sure why—perhaps it tickles.
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