Visions of Earth 2009 - Photo Gallery - National Geographic Magazine

Current Issue July 2009
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Visions of Earth

Each month, National Geographic magazine features breathtaking photographs in Visions of Earth. Browse through visions of the world as seen through a photographer's eye.

/visions-of-earth/img/0709-tonga-volcano-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0709-tonga-volcano-60.jpg Tonga—Plumes of ash, smoke, and steam billow thousands of feet into the air as an undersea volcano erupts on the uninhabited island of Hunga Ha'apai. The fallout, rock detritus known as scoria, has since enlarged the landmass.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0709-tanganyika-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0709-tanganyika-60.jpg Tanzania—After two weeks of in-mouth incubation, a school of perhaps 200 cichlid fry—each less than half an inch long—swim free of their mother, searching for a plankton meal in the cerulean waters of Lake Tanganyika.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0709-fire-breathing-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0709-fire-breathing-60.jpg India—In Jammu, a flower of flame blooms from a man's kerosene-filled mouth. Devotees of Sikhism, the world's fifth largest organized religion, were marking the 342nd birthday of Guru Gobind Singh, a founder of the faith.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0609-dust-tornado-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0609-dust-tornado-60.jpg United States—A brown tornado towers perhaps 4,000 feet above the parched plains of Kansas. In 2007 the state set a U.S. record, tallying 141 twisters. The mark was short-lived, though: 187 tore through in 2008.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0609-nasa-jet-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0609-nasa-jet-60.jpg United States—The shuttle Endeavour—deft in orbit but incapable of terrestrial flight—catches a post-mission piggyback on a 747, soaring over California's Mojave Desert en route to Florida's Kennedy Space Center.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0609-belarus-ice-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0609-belarus-ice-60.jpg Belarus—Naked on an 18°F day, Valentsin Tolkachev clears an icy canal for swimming. The 69-year-old started the Optimalists—a Minsk-based club with 200-some members—in 1989 to promote hale activities in rural settings.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0509-elephant-seal-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0509-elephant-seal-60.jpg South Georgia Island—A snowy morning offers a peaceful study in contrasts as southern elephant seals and king penguins share a rookery. Antarctic spring brings some 400,000 of each species to this remote British territory.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0509-field-green-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0509-field-green-60.jpg England—Lost in a wending laurel maze at Cornwall's Glendurgan—a series of verdant subtropical gardens planted privately in the 1820s and bequeathed to the National Trust in 1962—two visitors huddle in a hut.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0509-sculpturs-475.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0509-sculpturs-60.jpg China—All is alabaster at a sculpture factory in Dangcheng, where marble and chalk dust suffuse the air and workers churn out relatively inexpensive copies of iconic Western works for foreign and domestic clients.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0409-fisherman-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0409-fisherman-60.jpg Indonesia—See dusk in the Dampier Strait through a half-submerged lens and glimpse two distinct worlds. Under a cloud-slung sky, fishermen work on wooden boats. Beneath a mirror-calm surface, waters flash with baitfish.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0409-china-guard-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0409-china-guard-60.jpg China—A member of a ceremonial honor guard inspects his cohort's alignment, making sure it's suitable for the arrival of world leaders at the 2008 Asia-Europe Meeting, held at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0409-dubai-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0409-dubai-60.jpg United Arab Emirates—Peninsulas of prosperity, the "fronds" of the $14-billion Palm Jumeirah—the first of three planned resort islands in Dubai—jut into the Persian Gulf. Building began in 2001; it may end in 2013.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0309-croc-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0309-croc-60.jpg Thailand—In a race to emerge at the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, one eight-inch Siamese crocodile wins by a head. Few such crocs exist in the wild, yet 20,000 are born each year during the zoo's May-to-August hatching festival.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0309-marines-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0309-marines-60.jpg Djibouti—A break in training exercises lets Marine Cpl. Brett Herman try out his break-dancing moves during a "freestyle" contest at Camp Lemonier. The former French barracks is the sole U.S. base on the Horn of Africa.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0309-oxcart-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0309-oxcart-60.jpg Madagascar—Sunrise reveals light traffic—a lone oxcart—along the Avenue of the Baobabs. The 80-foot-tall "upside-down trees" in the Menabe region could become the island country's first national monument.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0209-fetus-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0209-fetus-60.jpg England—Like a porcelain figurine carved into repose, the fetus of a foal floats in a jar. The 85-day-old, 5.5-inch-long colt was removed postmortem and preserved in formaldehyde after its mother, a Thoroughbred, died.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0209-pool-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0209-pool-60.jpg United States—Limned by Hurricane Ike, an abstract expressionist expanse of oil-sheened floodwater surrounds a pump jack—a mechanical device used to extract oil—near High Island, Texas.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0209-pamungkas-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0209-pamungkas-60.jpg Indonesia—On the first day of Ramadan, in a mosque filled with white-robed women, one child stands up and stands out. During the month-long holiday, Muslims seeking spiritual purification fast from dawn till dusk.]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0109-1-bulgaria-cross-jumpers-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0109-1-bulgaria-cross-jumpers-60.jpg Bulgaria—Epiphany Day at an icy Sofia lake finds young men in hot pursuit. Belief holds that the first to reach the wooden cross, thrown by an Eastern Orthodox priest, will enjoy a year of good health. ]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0109-2-china-power-plant-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0109-2-china-power-plant-60.jpg China Daily]]> China—Workers apply a rust-resistant primer to a coal-fired power plant in Huaibei, a major industrial center. Soon they'll paint it black, adding a second, waterproof coat to this 470-foot-tall cooling tower. ]]> /visions-of-earth/img/0109-3-elephant-victoria-falls-714.jpg /visions-of-earth/img/0109-3-elephant-victoria-falls-60.jpg Zambia—A lone bull elephant breakfasts at first light near the precipice of Victoria Falls. With the Zambezi River near its seasonal ebb, once submerged walkways—and fresh foraging possibilities—present themselves. ]]>