August 12 has been set aside as World Elephant Day since 2011. Supported by numerous conservation agencies, the day is a time to “spread awareness, share knowledge, and provide solutions for better care and management of both captive and wild elephants,” according to the organizer’s website. Elephants continue to face numerous challenges, including poaching, habitat loss, exploitation, abuse, and proximity to human conflict and poverty.
The MV Wakashio, a bulk carrier ship loaded with about 4,000 tons of fuel oil, ran aground off the coast of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, on July 25. After sitting on a reef for days, battered by waves while awaiting salvage workers, the vessel has leaked an increasing amount of oil near a marine park and populated beaches. Mauritius has declared a “state of environmental emergency,” as the growing spill threatens nearby reefs and lagoons.
In 1836, Arkansas became the 25th state in the United States. Today, more than 3 million residents live in the state’s diverse terrain, from the rugged Ozark mountains to the plains along the Mississippi River. Here are a few glimpses of the landscape of Arkansas and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.
Back to school in Georgia, a raccoon on the mike in California, Highland cattle in Scotland, damage after the explosion in Beirut, a pyrocumulus cloud in California, a bunker shot in England, rafts in a Chinese water park, flooding in Sudan, huge walls in Croatia, cooling in a pool in Spain, and much more.
Lebanese officials have now said that the August 4 explosion that devastated much of Beirut’s port area was caused by a fire in a warehouse that had been storing explosive materials, reportedly including 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate. As of today, more than 100 deaths and over 4,000 injuries have been reported. Gathered below are images of the widespread damage in Beirut, a day after the devastating blast.
On August 4, a fire in a structure near the port area of Beirut, Lebanon, led to an enormous explosion that shook the city. The shockwave from the blast destroyed buildings close by and shattered glass for miles around, causing at least 10 deaths and hundreds of injuries, according to reporting from Reuters. The exact cause of the fire and explosion has yet to be determined. Below are some early images from the aftermath in Beirut.
New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the nation, with 8.9 million residents living in the fourth-smallest state in the U.S. From the Skylands, to the Palisades, to the farms and cranberry bogs, and down the Jersey Shore to Cape May, here are a few glimpses of the landscape of New Jersey and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.
An open-air school in Kashmir, preparing for Eid al-Adha in Bangladesh, a Comic-Con blood drive in California, idle fishing boats in China, a Navy Day parade in Russia, wildfires in Portugal, a successful Mars rover launch, a sparsely-attended Hajj in Saudi Arabia, outdoor opera in Greece, a farewell to the late U.S. Representative John Lewis, and much more.
On July 30, NASA is set to launch a car-sized rover named Perseverance and a robotic helicopter named Ingenuity to the planet Mars, to search for signs of past microbial life and examine the Martian climate and geology in an area known as Jezero crater. If all goes according to schedule, the Mars 2020 mission will land its robotic explorers on Mars on February 18, 2021, after six and a half months of travel time.
As professional sports leagues continue to grapple with coronavirus restrictions on both players and fans, teams are playing to empty, or near-empty, stadiums, and broadcasting the games live. Team mascots, who normally thrive on interaction with a live audience, are left to play to the cameras, interacting with empty bleachers and cardboard cutouts of fans. Below is a collection of images from recent months of various mascots, still hard at work during trying times.
South Dakota is the fifth-smallest state by population in the U.S., with approximately 885,000 residents living in its 77,000 square miles. From the Black Hills and the Badlands, across the plains to Sioux Falls, here are a few glimpses of the landscape of South Dakota and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.
A cheetah at rest in Kenya, flamenco dancing in Spain, tennis at a Berlin airport, a giant spoon on an English trail, a baby hippo in Mexico, an online mud festival in South Korea, the night sky above Syria, wildfires in Greece, concerts in Australia and Germany, a Chinese mission to Mars, and much more.
Today, rather than presenting a collection of images from the (often stressful) news of the day, I thought it would be fun to put together a group of photos of some canine companions having a great time in the water—splashing in a mountain lake, diving or surfing in competitions, playing in pools, or just cooling off in a puddle or trough.
With the nation’s sixth-largest population, Illinois is home to more than 12.6 million residents—about 9.5 million of them living in the Chicago metropolitan area. Outside of Chicagoland, most of the state is dedicated to agricultural use, producing some of the largest crops of soybeans and corn in the U.S. Here are a few glimpses of the landscape of Illinois and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.
The civil-rights icon and longtime U.S. representative John Lewis died yesterday at the age of 80. Lewis began his life as the son of an Alabama sharecropper, and became active in the civil-rights movement while he was a student in Nashville, Tennessee. Lewis became nationally known after the March 7, 1965, “Bloody Sunday” march to Montgomery, Alabama, when he and dozens of other marchers were brutally beaten after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, in Selma, Alabama.
Phase 3 re-openings in Europe and North America, locust swarms in India, sunset soccer in Indonesia, a seawater pool in France, in-stream dining in Kuala Lumpur, flooding on the Yangtze river, Sammy the Seal in England, Godzilla in Yokosuka, Bastille Day fireworks in Paris, and much more.
As people worldwide adapt to living with the threat of COVID-19, and especially as the rate of new cases continues to grow in the United States, the wearing of face masks remains widely recommended, and in many places, mandatory. A century ago, an outbreak of influenza spread rapidly across the world, killing more than 50 million—and possibly as many as 100 million—people within 15 months.
Tennessee is the 16th most populous state in the nation, home to more than 6.8 million people. The landscape ranges from the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the Mississippi River, which makes up its western border. From Memphis to the Great Smoky Mountains, here are a few glimpses of the landscape of Tennessee and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.
Ominous statues in Thailand, protests in Serbia and Greece, solar boats in the Netherlands, a crane collapse in London, Formula One racing in Austria, the empty streets of Pamplona, a zoo re-opening in Ecuador, a nuclear power plant in France, a wildfire in California, and much more.
Days of torrential rainfall in central Japan have led to extensive flooding and mudslides, leaving as many as 58 people dead so far. Rivers that overflowed their banks have swept away bridges and roads, cutting off communities and making it difficult for rescue workers to reach many areas. Emergency crews are now working against the clock, trying to find people who may still be trapped.
In central Italy, the small village of Castelluccio sits atop a hill overlooking the Piano Grande—a broad basin surrounded by the Sibillini Mountains—where fields of lentils and poppies bloom every year, carpeting the landscape with a colorful quilt of blossoming flowers. Every summer the phenomenon is viewed by thousands of tourists, and this year, the photographers Antonio Masiello and Tiziana Fabi visited the fields, sending back these photos.
New Mexico is the fifth-largest state by area and is sparsely populated, with nearly half of the state’s 2.1 million residents living in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. Below are a few glimpses of the diverse geography and history of New Mexico and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.
A new waterslide in the Czech Republic, a cat on the Algerian waterfront, scuffles in Taiwan’s legislature, a grotto reopening in Italy, a building collapse in Brooklyn, burying a coronavirus victim in Russia, a model village in England, a wildfire in Colorado, and much more.
In the widespread protests that followed the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on May 25, statues of and memorials to Confederate soldiers and generals were vandalized or torn down. Some of the many statues of Christopher Columbus were targeted as well, as voices rose against historic and systemic racism and oppression. State and local governments then began acting to remove even more Confederate statues from public places.
Throughout the year, parts of East Africa have been suffering record-setting waves of locust swarms. In the past few months, even more swarms have dramatically struck parts of Yemen, Pakistan, and India. Farmers and communities are fearful of the damage to crops and rangeland, harming income and food supplies, all while dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Antarctica is currently approaching the coldest months of its long winter, and the previous summer’s activities have mostly wrapped up. Collected below are recent images of the Antarctic landscape, wildlife, and research facilities, as well as some of the work taking place there.
Although Maine is the largest of the New England states, it is still relatively small—ranking 39th in area. It remains a state with a low population density, at just about 1.3 million residents, mostly living near the southern coast. From its wooded interior to its rocky shoreline, here are a few glimpses of the landscape of Maine and some of the wildlife and people calling it home.This photo story is part of Fifty, a collection of images from each of the United States.
Mountaintop yoga in China, a sunrise over Glastonbury Tor, a solstice fire in Lithuania, a baby hippo in France, a sneaky gull in Denmark, a field of lavender in England, statues pulled down in the U.S., “Rays of Victory” in Russia, a concert for plants in Spain, a ski run in Australia, and much more.
Responses to the coronavirus pandemic have differed widely from country to country. Experts from the World Health Organization recently warned that the number of cases is now soaring in larger countries, with “worrying increases” developing in Latin America, with “a jump in cases in Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Panama, Bolivia and Guatemala.” Brazil has now passed more than 1 million recorded cases, with more than 52,700 deaths attributed to the virus so far.
Yesterday, the moon crossed in front of the sun in an annular solar eclipse, as seen by residents across broad sections of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. A “ring of fire” was visible in the sky above the zone of totality, as the moon appeared slightly smaller than the sun. Photographers in several countries documented the phenomenon—one of only two solar eclipses taking place this year—and some of its many observers.