Unaware of its fate, a tiny piglet stands next her mother, trapped in the industrial farm’s void.
The image is part of the shortlist for the COP26 Photo Competition, which aims at raising awareness of the environmental problems facing humanity and the Earth.
Twenty-six top photographers from around the world have participated in the COP Climate Summit in Glasgow next week.
The victor, who will win a £500 cash donation to an environmental charity of their choice, will be announced on November 6.
The image of the sow & piglet was taken in order to highlight the terrible conditions in industrial farms which are a major contributor to climate change.
Another image shows a Golden Eagle eating a carcass of a Scottish Highlands red deer. It was taken to illustrate how predator-prey dynamics are essential to the success of an ecosystem. The bird is one of only a few remaining predators in this region.
The third photo shows a group King penguins on South Georgia’s British Overseas Territory. It highlights how climate change is threatening their way of living.
A fourth image shows a platypus sitting on a log in Victoria’s Little Yarra River. The wildfires can cause serious damage to vegetation and streams, making the animal one of the most endangered.
A tiny piglet, unaware of its fate, stands next to its mother in the slumbering surroundings of an industrial farm. Jo-Anne McArthur took the image. The competition is held to raise awareness about the environmental challenges facing the Earth and humanity. The standard way to raise pigs for meat is to keep them in gestation crates. The pollution caused by industrial farming and the mass production of animals are among the factors that contribute to climate change
Peter Cairns’s photograph of a golden-eagle (Aquila cristaetos), eating a carcass of red deer, in Assynt Highlands. Scotland was once home for a wide range of predators, including wolves as well as lynx. Their demise is more that a loss of species; it’s a loss in an important ecological process. Complex predator-prey dynamics play an important role in healthy living systems. This red deer will not only provide food for a top predator such as a golden eagle, but also feed a variety of scavengers including foxes, badgers, and even tiny bacteria. The soil will be fertilized with nutrients from the deer’s remains, which will promote the growth and development of new vegetation. Landscapes that lack predators and the processes they facilitate are less dynamic, less productive and less dynamic.
Roy Mangersnes captured the King penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus, in St Andrews Bay (South Georgia) The King penguin adults who have been fishing early in the morning return with their catch. They walk through a sea of seals and penguins, calling out to the one chick amongst all of them. After feeding their young the parent King penguins assemble along the beach and seem to be enjoying the sunrise before heading into freezing waters. This beautiful circle is visible every morning on St. Andrews Bay throughout the Antarctic summer months. South Georgia is considered Antarctica because it lies within the Convergence Line, which is filled with rich and cold Antarctic water. However, the line is not permanent and warmer waters from Atlantic might push South to a point where the island ends up on the wrong side. This will be devastating for penguins as well as all wildlife in South Georgia. The fishing grounds won’t reach them and they won’t be able feed their young.
Doug Gimesy’s photograph of a Platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatius, just after it was released onto a log in Little Yarra River. Yarra junction, Victoria. Australia. April 2018. April 2018. Platypuses can also be affected by fires and water boiling, which can leave them without food. Platypuses may not be able to hide safely from predators if riverbank vegetation is destroyed.
Sandesh Kadur’s image shows pig-nosed, pig-nosed frogs in Western Ghats of India (Nasikabatrachus Sahyadrensis). Frogs and Tadpoles are sensitive to their environment because of their thin, porous skin. Frogs are able to absorb chemicals from the water and air through their skin. This is why frogs are excellent indicators of environmental damage. Purple frogs, Nasikabatrachus SAHYADRENSIS, spend most of their lives underground. They only emerge briefly during the monsoon season to breed.
Jen Guyton’s image shows the cones of a female Welwitschia (Welwitschia Mirabilis) plant. It is located in Swakopmund in Namibia. They are one of the oldest organisms on the planet, with some individuals possibly being more than 2000 years old. Welwitschia is one of the most fascinating and bizarre plants today. The climate change is threatening the long-term survival and uniqueness of this extraordinary species. Scientists predict that the climate in northern Namibia will become less suitable for Welwitschia plants by 2050. These changes will likely result in a shift or contraction of the species’ range and an increase in mortality.
Tony Wu’s image shows a group of Sperm Whales off Sri Lanka’s coast, in the Indian Ocean. The size of the whale seen here defecating measures approximately 40feet. The whale dives and eats nutrients from the oceans. A sudden flood of nutrient rich biological matter can lead to phytoplankton blooms. Photosynthesis is a process in which phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide, just like plants on the ground. However, two-thirds of the sperm whale population had been killed by humans by the end of industrialized whaling. Their decline is affecting the global carbon cycle.
Edwin Giesbers’s photo of two Adelie Penguins (Pygoscelis Adeliae), on an Antarctica Iceberg. Grigoriy Mikheev, a photographer, described how the image conveyed his feelings regarding Antarctica. He said that it was an “infinitely vast and magical world” where you feel small and insignificant. Global warming poses a serious threat to penguin colonies.
Staffan Widstrand captured the image of a Red and Lesser Panda (Ailurus fullgens) in Laba Forest, Sichuan Nature Reserve, China. Although the Red panda was once found in broadleaf and mixed forests throughout the Himalayas, it has been hunted to extinction in many places. Its fur is highly prized in ceremonial local dress outfits as well as on the international fur market. The red panda has seen a significant increase in its numbers in China over the past few years due to a ban on hunting and increased protection.
Tim Laman’s image shows a Greater bird of paradise (Paradisaea poda) perched on a treetop in Badigaki Forest. Wokam is part of the Aru Islands, Indonesia. The Greater Bird-of-Paradise, which is found in Aru and adjacent New Guinea, represents approximately forty different species that depend on intact rainforest in New Guinea. This region is the last remaining rainforest block in the Asia-Pacific. It has more than 80 percent of its forest cover. It is an important aid in combating climate change because it serves as a major carbon sink.
Nick Upton’s image shows Goldenstedt moor, near Vechta (Lower Saxony), Germany. Peat bogs only cover 3 percent of the Earth’s surface. But they contain 25% of all carbon stored in soils. This is twice the amount as all the forests worldwide. This means that managing them is becoming a more important topic.
Yashpal Rathore’s image shows a male Kottigehar dancing frog, (Micrixalus kottigeharensis), putting on a show to attract attention from a female. Although male frogs have relied on their croaking to attract females in the past, they are now struggling to be heard above the noise of fast-flowing waters. This tiny frog, about the size of your thumb, climbs onto small stones and uses a different method to attract the opposite sex: it wave its foot. The more testosterone it has the more it wails. This attracts potential mates and deters rival males. Global warming will have a negative impact on several aspects of frogs lives, including their immune system and breeding system, habitat, and embryo hatching process. The habitat loss is also threatening the dancing frog. It requires 80 percent forest canopy coverage and perennial streams, both which are under threat
Shane Gross’s photo of a Lemon Shark pup (Negaprion.brevirostris), Eleuthera, Bahamas. It is a juvenile of this species and it is swimming in the mangrove forest. Mangroves provide habitats for many other species of fish as well as crabs (one seen above). Mangroves provide a great defense against large storm surges and large amounts of carbon absorption. They are being destroyed however by humans
Lucas Bustamante’s image of palm oil crops and deforestation in the Chocó–Darién moist forests in Ecuador. South America has the highest deforestation rate in the world, with Ecuador ranked second on the continent, just behind Brazil. Deforestation is the biggest and most serious threat to biodiversity and conservation in South America.
Mark Carwardine’s image shows a Scalloped-hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lawini), off Baja, Mexico. Shark-fin soup is a Chinese delicacy that sees tens of millions of sharks being killed each year. Many populations have been caught and killed to the point of extinction. Unfortunately, their fearful reputation makes conserving them difficult.
Jack Dykinga’s image depicts a Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia Engelmanni) stressed and dying from drought in the Tucson Mountains of Arizona. Due to rising temperatures, the south-western USA experienced some of its most severe droughts. Arizona is currently experiencing its 26th long-term drought.
Michel Roggo’s aerial shot of the Sermeq Kujalleq Glacier front, Greenland. Entering the Kangia Ilulissat Icefjord, full of icebergs. The glacier is one of the fastest-moving and most active glaciers in the world. Scientists believe that rising temperatures cause melting of the glacier.
Nick Garbutt’s image showing an adult humpback (Megaptera nudeangliae), swimming in deep water channels in the Great Bear Rainforest. British Columbia, Canada. The region’s complex mosaic of forests and mountains is rich in biodiversity and supports a variety of wildlife. The Bering Sea’s Pacific salmon migrate back to their native rivers in British Columbia to spawn or die. Their corpses litter the rivers and forests adjacent to them in autumn, where bears, wolves, and other predators feast on the bounty. The forest is fertilized by the decaying corpses. There is intricate interconnectedness everywhere. All driven by seasonal cycles, which are being threatened by climate change
Dong Lei’s photograph of a rescued Chinese Pandarin. To save Chin’s last wild populations, a series of conservation efforts is underway. Pangolins are being poached for their meat and scales. These are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
Neil Aldridge’s image shows a grey long-eared bat, Plecotus austriacus (Plecotus spp.) on a summer night in Devon. The loss of Britain’s rarest breeding bat is due to the destruction of its grassland habitat and the decline in insect numbers as a result of intensive agricultural practices and development.
Ashley Cooper’s image shows the Tehachapi Pass windfarm in California. It is the first American large-scale wind farm. The wind farm was built in the 1980s. Wind power provided 8 percent of the US’s energy requirements in 2020. In the UK, however, almost 25% of energy was generated by wind power. This is more than the amount of energy that comes from nuclear and coal.
Alex Mustard’s image shows schools of baitfish including Silversides and Cardinalfish (Apogon spp.) gathered on a coral reef in Misool Raja Ampat West Papua, Indonesia. The rich diversity of marine life found on reefs is a biochemical treasure trove that provides us with vital ingredients to certain medicines.
Rivoni Mkansi’s photograph of a South African water droplet. According to World Bank data, the gap between the rich and poor in this country is wider than any other nation. 74% of rural residents still rely on wells and pumps to get their water.
Heather Angel’s of Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) in Shunan Zhuhai National Park, Sichuan Province, China. The giant grass Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis), which can grow up three feet per day, is one of the fastest growing plants. This temperate bamboo grows to harvestable size in five year. Since new shoots are created each year, fully grown culms may be harvested each spring, which allows for younger plants to reach maturity. It takes 15 years for Eucalyptus to reach harvestable size, while conifers such fir, pine, and larch can last around 40 years. Moso bamboo absorbs more carbon dioxide as it grows than it emits. It is also a sustainable resource, which can regrow itself after it has been cut. This bamboo is native to China and Taiwan. However, it can now be grown in Japan and Portugal.
Sirachai Anrunrugstichai’s image showing fish caught in nets in the waters of Thailand. Heavy industrial fisheries use has led to a decline in fish stocks, and a decrease in the quality of catches.