REUTERS/Daniel Munoz
Agricultural machinery is seen on an isolated island surrounded by flood waters near the town of Emerald in Australia's state of Queensland January 2, 2011. Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast were flooded on Sunday in a spreading environmental disaster as thousands of residents fled their homes to avoid the runoff from a Christmas deluge. [REUTERS/Daniel Munoz]
REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic
A boy from the cattle herding Mundari tribe smiles in a settlement near Terekeka, south Sudan January 19, 2011. South Sudanese voted overwhelmingly to declare independence from the north in a referendum. [REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic]
REUTERS/Adrees Latif
A school boy, carrying a backpack, walks past burning fuel tankers along the GT road in Nowshera, located in Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province October 7, 2010. Gunmen in Pakistan set fire to up to 40 supply trucks for NATO troops in Afghanistan. [REUTERS/Adrees Latif]
REUTERS/Scott Audette
A youngster waves as space shuttle Discovery lifts off at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, February 24, 2011.[REUTERS/Scott Audette]
REUTERS/Erik de Castro
A man wades in neck-deep water filled with debris while searching for valuable items after a fire razed some 500 houses along a coastal village in Malabon city, north of Manila April 7, 2011. The fire was believed to be caused by an exploding liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank. No casualties were reported but at least 3,000 residents lost their homes. Fire fighters had a difficult time getting to the scene and putting out the blaze because the houses were close to each other and made of light materials, local media reported. [REUTERS/Erik de Castro]
REUTERS/ Mohammed Salem
A Palestinian boy buries himself in the sand as he enjoys the warm weather at the Gaza City beach, July 18, 2011. [REUTERS/ Mohammed Salem]
REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
The Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest in the United States and third largest in the world, is seen in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, June 22, 2011. Picture taken June 22, 2011. [REUTERS/Jim Urquhart]
REUTERS/Asahi Shimbun
A woman cries while sitting on a road amid the destroyed city of Natori, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan March 13, 2011, after a massive earthquake and tsunami that are feared to have killed more than 10,000 people. Picture taken March 13, 2011. [REUTERS/Asahi Shimbun]
Earthquakes, tsunamis and flooding seemed to be a recurring theme in this year's biggest environmental stories. In early January, Australia's state of Queensland was majorly flooded, with about three quarters of the region evacuated. Japan's 9.0 magnitude earthquake in March - the biggest that country has ever seen, as well as the most expensive natural disaster - saw over 15,000 deaths and 5,000 injuries throughout the region.
Other photos include one of a Philippino man wading through trashy water after a fire decimated over 500 houses in April in Manila, and a youngster waving goodbye to Discovery, the space shuttle launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral on February 24.