Two women look at a mobile phone as they stand on Tiananmen Square during a sand storm in heavily polluted weather in Beijing on February 28, 2013. Beijing residents were urged to stay indoors as pollution levels soared before a sandstorm brought further misery to China's capital. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

An Indonesian muslim woman walks on “sea of sands” as they prepare for Eid Al-Fitr prayer at Parangkusumo beach on July 17, 2015 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Muslims worldwide observe the Eid Al-Fitr prayer to mark the end of Ramadan and the beginning of the new month of blessing Shawwal 1436 Hijriah. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

Salt-resistant plants grow in sand made up of small fish bones on the shore of the Salton Sea before sunrise in an area where a controversial development would create a new town for nearly 40,000 people on the northwest shore of the biggest lake in California, the Salton Sea, on March 21, 2012 south of Mecca, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

Members of Wonderfam CausePlay pose for a group photo at Buttercup Sand Dunes on January 15, 2022 in Winterhaven, California. Buttercup San Dunes was the location of several iconic scenes filmed for Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. (Photo by Daniel Knighton/Getty Images)

A killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) chick on sand dunes in Pacific Grove, California, US on June 21, 2023. The killdeer gets its name from its shrill, loud call. (Photo by Rory Merry/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

Roland Miller is on a mission to document the deserted sites of America’s space race. He has photographed launch pads, bunkhouses and research facilities across the country, some of which no longer exist or are closed to the public on secure military bases. His book, “Abandoned in Place”, is published by the University of New Mexico Press in March. Here: Launch Pad and Gantry with Hermes A-1 Rocket – V2 Launch Complex 33, White Sands missile range, New Mexico in 2006. (Photo by Roland Miller)

Firefighters of the Texas Canyon Hotshot crew fight the Sand Fire on July 23 2016 near Santa Clarita, California. Fueled by temperatures reaching about 108 degrees fahrenheit, the wildfire began yesterday has grown to 11,000 acres. (Photo by David McNew/AFP Photo)