Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

Silhouette detail of Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump as he attends the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians, and the Republican faithful are in Milwaukee for the annual convention, concluding with former President Donald Trump accepting his party's presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Pink flamingos are silhouetted and reflected in water at sunset in the Camargue regional natural park in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, Southern France, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by Manon Cruz/Reuters)

People take photos of blooming cherry blossoms in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Two young women jump into a pool on the beach on June 20, 2025 in Margate, United Kingdom. Yellow heat health alerts have been issued by the Met Office with temperatures set to climb as high as 33°C by the weekend. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

An Icelandic mare and her foal stand on a meadow at a stud farm in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Uzbekistan's Javokhir Sindarov in action against Hans Niemann of the U.S. during the Diving Chess Competition in Cape Town, South Africa, on December 4, 2025. (Photo by Esa Alexander/Reuters)

Kelvingrove Park under heavy snow on January 7, 2022 amid a Met Office warning of snow stretching from the Highlands through to Glasgow and Edinburgh. (Photo by Ewan Bootman/Rex Features/Shutterstock)