Photographer Page

Ashley Cooper

An RSPB worker in PPE examines a dead skua suspected of succumbing to avian flu.

The Kirkstone Pass Inn twinkles at the summit of its namesake pass amidst winter snowfall. The inn – dating from 1496 – was once a critical shelter on the trade route between Windermere and Glenridding. At 454m above sea level it is amongst the highest pubs in England.

Observers regard melting ice in Jokulsarlon, Iceland. Climate change is one of five goals, or 'Earthshots', entrants are challenged to address in a ten-year, globally-awarded prize.

Most of Victoria and New South Wales in Australia has been in the grip of an unprecedented drought for the last ten years. River levels have dropped and reservoirs are at a fraction of their capacity. Lake Hume is the largest reservoir in Australia and was set up to provide irrigation water for farms further down the Murray Basin and drinking water for Adelaide. On the day this photograph was taken it was at 19.6% capacity. By the end of the summer of 2009 it dropped to 2.1 % capacity. Such impacts of the drought are liekly to worsen as a result of climate change.