Environment

These colossal spires rise from the Siberian wilderness like skyscrapers. They're filled with dead animals
Reaching heights of up to 200m, these great pinnacles are the remains of an enormous ancient reef belt.

It’s the same size as the city of Amsterdam, has breathtaking waterfalls and contains venomous snakes
Plitvice Lakes National Park is the largest and oldest national park in Croatia

Why on Earth are pink lakes pink? The science behind nature's most vibrant waters
Yes some lakes are pink. Here's why
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"Known as the Gateway to Hell, where lurid-coloured acid lakes create an eerie, alien world." 10 barren dead zones where nothing survives...
Dead zones are fascinating, often alien places, where nothing or very little lives

This iconic New York landmark is becoming a magnet – not just for tourists, but birds
Does anything live on the Statue of Liberty – and Ellis Island?

Hundreds of dying rivers, 4 million km² of wetlands lost and 420 water-related violent conflicts: Just how dangerous is the global water emergency?
From shrinking rivers and dying wildlife to growing fears of global conflict, here’s why experts say the world is running dangerously dry.

60 metres below an arid desert lies a secret, gigantic underground lake that's hundreds of metres deep and home to animals found nowhere else on earth
It might sound like a location from The Game of Thrones, but the Dragon’s Breath Cave, hidden deep below the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, is actually the home of a vast 264-metre-deep lake, with a surface area the size of two football pitches

This gigantic tusk and more than 70 bones were dug up at a construction site in Germany. Here's why the discovery is so exceptional
After several years of detailed study, scientists from Germany have cracked a cold case that has been on ice since the Last Glacial Maximum.

It’s the size of Hong Kong and contains the highest mountain on Earth – and it’s home to a mighty carnivore
Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is home to some of the planet's hardiest animals – from woolly hares and red pandas to high-flying geese and stalking snow leopards.

It’s the size of Texas, stores 70 billion tonnes of carbon and deadly predators roam its harsh, remote landscape
The West Siberian Lowland is the world’s largest high-latitude wetland and contains the biggest peatland

Expedition to remote Angolan plateau reveals dozens of dazzling new species
Numerous species previously unknown to science have been discovered in a ‘biodiversity blank spot’ in Angola on the west coast of Southern Africa.

"Stop, prevent your death! Go no further." 9 deadliest, most terrifying caves on the planet
For those who chose to explore them, caves are a source of fascination, but these can be dark, inhospitable places, full of twist and turns and tunnels and chambers says Helen Pilcher.

These 50-million-year-old giants are taller than the Statue of Liberty – and there are thousands of them
Utah's Bryce Canyon isn’t a canyon at all, but a vast high plateau carved into numerous amphitheatres – and within these incredible rock formations there is life.

Siberia’s ‘Gateway to Hell’ is getting bigger. And it’s spewing out prehistoric animals
Known by some as the ‘Gateway to Hell’, the Batagay crater in Siberia is the world’s largest megaslump

A carnivore has moved into Florida's Everglades – and it's threatening native crocodiles and alligators
The invasive spectacled caiman could be hampering efforts to restore the Everglades ecosystem, according to a recent review.

This Italian island is home to an active volcano – and a horde of wild goats
Living in the shadow of an active volcano is nerve-wracking – but the residents of Stromboli face another challenge

The same size as Casablanca, this arid landscape holds over 15 staggering 300m rock towers older than the dinosaurs – and America’s deadliest snake
Discover the land of red rock towers, legendary monsters and coyotes

This lost ocean vanished millions of years ago – but it may have shaped the ancient mountains of the dinosaurs
A new study suggests the prehistoric Tethys Ocean was driving mountain formation thousands of kilometres away.

Mysterious ‘ghost shark’, carnivorous ‘death ball’ sponge, and a worm living in a ‘glass castle’ – more than 1,100 new marine species discovered
The extraordinary discoveries were made over 13 ocean expeditions to some of the planet’s most extreme environments.

It was forged by fiery underwater explosions. Today, it’s a “natural laboratory” for researchers and tourists are banned
Surtsey was formed by volcanic eruptions in the 1960s – and has been legally protected ever since

Yellow brick road found at bottom of the ocean stuns scientists...
Think the yellow brick road is fictional? Think again. It’s real and it can be found more than 1,000 metres deep in the ocean

It was sealed off for 5 million years, breathes and has a Chandelier Ballroom filled with 6 metre long crystals
Lechuguilla Cave, in New Mexico, is full of rare and spectacular geological formations

It’s the size of Belgium and contains the highest waterfall on Earth – and it's home to monkey-hunting eagles
Huge table-top mountains, tumbling waterfalls and extraordinary wildlife – welcome to Venezuela's Canaima National Park.

Is there a place on Earth that is exactly the same if humans had never arrived? Or have we irreversibly changed the world forever?
Is there somewhere on Earth that is completely unaffected by humans? Caroline Steel investigates
