Tundra Village, Moriusaq, Greenland, 2006 Photograph by David McLain
The tiny village of Moriusaq stands on the frozen landscape of northwest Greenland. The sea ice near this settlement used to be thick enough to travel and hunt on for hundreds of miles for up to ten months. Recently though, climate change has reduced this crucial window to just a few weeks each year.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Last Days of the Ice Hunters,” January 2006, National Geographic magazine)
Paragliders in the Clouds, Mount Fuji, Japan, 2002 Photograph by Karen Kasmauski
Paragliders float through the clouds that surround snowcapped Mount Fuji in Japan. At 12,388 feet (3,776 meters), Fuji is Japan’s highest peak. But its relatively easy-to-scale flanks draw flocks of amateur climbers to its summit-some 400,000 every year.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Fuji: Japan’s Sacred Summit (Except When It’s Not),” August 2002, National Geographic magazine)
Lightning Behind Chimney Rock, Colorado, 1989 Photograph by James L. Amos
Trails of lightning backlight Chimney Rock in southwest Colorado’s San Juan National Forest. Home to ancestors of the Pueblo Indians more than 1,000 years ago, the area around Chimney Rock has been a designated archaeological area and national historic site since 1970.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Life and Times of William Henry Jackson: Photographing the Frontier,” February 1989, National Geographic magazine)
Irrigation Fields, Qatar, 2003 Photograph by Robb Kendrick
Irrigated crop fields stand out starkly against an expanse of Qatari desert. Such farms provide Qataris with some fruits and vegetables, but most of their food is imported. Government efforts to increase domestic agriculture are complicated by the paucity of fresh water in this parched desert nation.
(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Revolution From the Top Down: Qatar,” March 2003, National Geographic magazine)
Horse Herders, Darhad Valley, Mongolia, 2003 Photograph by Gordon Wiltsie
Mongolian herdsmen drive horses back into the Darhad Valley after wintering on the other side of the 10,000-foot (3,000-meter) mountains that rise in the background. People have moved their herds over these mountains for generations. But a government effort to transition Mongolia’s nomadic people to more stable urban lives could soon mean the end of this twice-yearly trek.
(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, “Mongolian Crossing: Is Time Running Out on Timeless Migration?” October 2003, National Geographic magazine)
