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Photograph by Mark W. Moffett
From "Socotra," National Geographic, June 2012Dragon's blood forests are nearly devoid of seedlings and young trees. Some scientists blame a lack of water caused by a decrease in seasonal cloud cover—and predict that many stands could disappear within a century.
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Photograph by NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
From "Solar Storms," National Geographic, June 2012July 21, 2011
The seething turmoil in our sun's atmosphere is captured in extreme ultraviolet light by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), launched in 2010 to better understand solar activity and its impact on Earth. In this colorized view (NASA color-codes SDO images to represent different wavelengths of light), bright coronal loops arc between regions of intense magnetic activity, while cooler, darker filaments hang suspended in the sun's magnetic field. -
Photograph by Sven Začek
From "Ural Owls," National Geographic, June 2012Concave faces help channel sound into supersensitive ears.
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Photograph by Mark Leong
From "Hong Kong," National Geographic, June 2012A forest of high-rises, many of them public housing projects, covers central Kowloon, one of the world's most crowded pieces of real estate. Despite Hong Kong's glittery reputation, almost half of its seven million residents live in subsidized housing.
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Photograph by Harry Katzjaeger
From "Top Shots," National Geographic, June 2012"The deeper the silence, the higher the inspiration," says Katzjaeger, 55, whose interest in Greece took hold in childhood. He drank strong coffee to combat the cold while taking long exposures of the night sky above Helmos Observatory in northern Peloponnesus.
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Photograph by David Alan Harvey
From "Outer Banks," National Geographic, June 2012Skippy learned to surf as a puppy and can hang with the OBX's best surfing dogs.
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Photograph by Michael Melford
From "Socotra," National Geographic, June 2012A brown booby lands on the western coast. At least ten kinds of seabirds breed on Socotra or the small islands around it, making the archipelago a regionally significant home for them.
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Photograph by Michael Melford
From "Socotra," National Geographic, June 2012Dazzling white sand dunes stretch for miles in places along Socotra's southern coastline, here at Aomak beach. Extremely high winds during the monsoon season constantly reshape the dunes.
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Photograph by David Alan Harvey
From "Outer Banks," National Geographic, June 2012Sometimes I sit for hours just admiring waves: the aesthetics of each curl, the way the wind shapes a break, the colors morphing and shifting as a swell rises. Ultimately the waves will transform OBX. In that way each is both a harbinger of the end and a work of art.
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Photograph by Martin Stojanovski
From "Solar Storms," National Geographic, June 2012A direct hit by a massive CME could shut down power lines, like these in Macedonia.
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Photograph by David Alan Harvey
From "Outer Banks," National Geographic, June 2012A pompano (soon to be released) is reeled in near my home in Nags Head on this ribbon of fragile barrier islands. The wild beauty and weather of this place have beguiled me since I was a kid, but now along with other inhabitants I wonder how long the islands will remain.
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Photograph by Michael Melford
From "Socotra," National Geographic, June 2012A full moon rises over the Diksam Plateau, where dragon's blood trees grow in scattered groves. The limestone of Socotra's interior plains formed when ancient seas covered the land.
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Photograph by Michael Melford
From "Socotra," National Geographic, June 2012Ancient periods of volcanic activity built the Hajhir Mountains, where rugged granite peaks rise to nearly 5,000 feet. Nightly clouds provide moisture for plant life that's among the most diverse in Asia.
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Photograph by Sven Začek
From "Ural Owls," National Geographic, June 2012Heightened vision and specialized feathers let owls fly under a cloak of darkness and silence. "I'm in awe of them," says photographer Začek.
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Photograph by Michael Melford
From "Socotra," National Geographic, June 2012Socotra's varied coastline comprises sandy beach, boulders, mudflats, and both living and fossil coral reefs. Marine resources remain vital: Many islanders make their living from fishing at least part of the year.
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Photograph by Bjørn Jørgenson
From "Solar Storms," National Geographic, June 2012January 24, 2012
An aurora flutters above the Sommarøy bridge on the island of Kvaløy in northern Norway during a week of intense solar activity. Auroras appear when charged solar particles strike atmospheric gases, lighting them up like neon in a tube. Most common near the Poles, auroras also occur in lower latitudes during strong solar storms. -
Photograph by Mark W. Moffett
From "Socotra," National Geographic, June 2012A desert rose anchors itself on the Maalah cliffs, in the company of more than 300 other rare plant species on Socotra. In the distance lies Qulansiyah, one of the island's largest towns.
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