This Month in Photo of the Day: National Geographic Magazine Features

The first clear ice of fall on an Alaskan lake captures methane that all summer long has bubbled from the bottom mud. In spring it will be released into the air. As permafrost melts, new lakes are forming all around the Arctic.

See more pictures from the December 2012 feature story "Good Gas, Bad Gas."

See an interactive graphic of breaking fuel from rock »
See pictures of nature's amazing patterns »