Breath of an Arctic fox by Marco Gaiotti, Italy. Marco was watching this little Arctic fox as it incessantly called another nearby. Gradually he noticed the fox’s wet breath was quickly freezing in the air after each call. It was late winter in Spitsbergen, Svalbard, and the air was -35C (-31F). Photographing Arctic foxes is often frustrating, as they are normally running around fast in search of food, but this one was very relaxed and let Marco get close enough to focus on it, with the light glowing perfectly in the background. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021)

Nine years ago, Tom Carter traveled from San Francisco to China, responding to a job posting that turned out to be a scam. He managed to find another job as a teacher, and saved enough money to embark on a 56,000 km trip through all of China's 33 provinces that lasted two years. Carrying a camera – just a a 4-megapixel point-and-shoot – Carter captured some amazing images of the widely varying landscape, people, and architecture across the nation. Photo: Buddhist pilgrim family from Sichuan. (Photo by Tom Carter via The Atlantic)

A boat paddles behind a fence near a plane sitting on the flooded tarmack of the closed Don Muang airport November 3, 2011 in Bangkok,Thailand. The airport was used as a domestic terminal and was formerly the International airport. Thailand is experiencing the worst flooding in over 50 years and has affected more than nine million people. Over 400 people have died in flood-related incidents since late July according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

A reveller gets ready to dance during a "pow-wow" celebrating the Indigenous Peoples Day Festival in Randalls Island, New York, October 11, 2015. The festival is held as a counter-celebration to Columbus Day and is to promote Native American culture and history. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

Bus ushers leap as they pose for a group photo during a meeting one day ahead of the opening session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, March 4, 2019. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

A golden huddle by Minqiang Lu, China. Two females and a male golden snub-nosed monkey huddle together to keep warm in the extreme cold. Threatened by forest loss and fragmentation, this endangered species is confined to central China. Restricted to living high up in the temperate forests, these monkeys – here in the Qinling mountains in Shaanxi province – feed mostly in the trees, on leaves, bark, buds and lichen. In heavy wind and snow, Minqiang walked up the mountain carrying his equipment. He stayed for half an hour in temperatures of –10C opposite the tree where the group was huddled before achieving this eye-level composition. (Photo by Minqiang Lu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

A Japanese twenty-year-old woman enjoys a cigarette during the annual Coming-of-Age Day ceremony at Toshimaen Amusement Park on January 11, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. 1.27 million young people celebrate their passage into adulthood on the day while they become eligible to drink alcohol, smoke and vote at the age of 20. (Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)