A street performer jumps in the air inside Central Park as the colors of autumn become more prevalent in New York, October 29, 2015. (Photo by Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

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)

Afghan children have ice cream during the Afghan New Year (Newroz) celebration in Kabul March 21, 2014. Afghanistan uses the Persian calendar which runs from the vernal equinox. The calendar takes as its start date the time when the Prophet Mohammad moved from Mecca to Medina in 621 AD. The current Persian year is 1393. (Photo by Ahmad Masood/Reuters)

Hair stylist Marcelo Avatte (R) prepares to fit Isidora Serrano, a 14-year-old who lost her hair due to chemotherapy to treat her bone cancer, with a natural hair wig in the cancer ward of the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital in Santiago, October 23, 2014. The wigs, handmade by Italian-Chilean hair stylist Marcelo Avatte and his team, have helped the children regain their self-esteem and confidence during cancer treatment. Renowned for making customised wigs, Avatte has donated more than 300 wigs since 2009 and says he was motivated to begin the project by the pain he felt when his own son lost his hair during chemotherapy. (Photo by Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters)

A burning train wagon is seen after an explosion at Lac Megantic, Quebec, July 6, 2013. A large swath of Lac Megantic was destroyed Saturday after a train carrying crude oil derailed, sparking several explosions and forcing the evacuation of up to 1,000 people. (Photo by Mathieu Belanger/Reuters)

A police officer patrols as people party on a street as pubs shut for the night due to tier 3 restrictions in Soho, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in London, Britain, December 15, 2020. (Photo by Henry Nicholls/Reuters)

“A team of expert cavers and photographers had been exploring caves in the Chongquing province of China – when they were amazed to discover the entrance to a hidden cave that was previously undiscovered. And they were stunned when they managed to enter the ginormous cave – and found that it was so large there was even a cloud inside it – a cave so large it has its own weather system. Photographer and caver Robbie Shone, from Manchester, was part of a team of 15 explorers on a month-long expedition who stumbled across the natural wonder”. – Caters News

In this Sunday, August 5, 2018 photo, a dancer winces in pain as she is whipped by a fellow dancer in an adaptation of the Inca warrior dance known as “Kachampa”, during celebrations honoring Our Lady of Copacabana, in Cuzco, Peru. (Photo by Martin Mejia/AP Photo)