2022 Science

First Place
First Place

Ethiopian men pull water from a well in the Bulale, near the Somali border, Ethiopia, May 2021. The 2021 rains were disappointing in Ethiopia, which has been stuck in a devastating drought for several years. On hearing rumors of rain near the Somali border, these camel herders walked 12 days to search, unsuccessfully, for pasture there—then 12 days back to draw water for their animals from this well near their home. Civil war is a big reason that some 13 million Ethiopians—more than a tenth of the population—face serious food insecurity. But climate change is a contributing factor: Major droughts are striking East Africa more often.

Second Place
Second Place

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - JUNE 01: Members of the media take pictures as a healthcare worker administers a dose of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac vaccine to a woman at a mall theatre converted into a vaccination centre on June 1, 2021 in San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines. Despite remaining under the world's longest lockdown for most of 2021, the Philippines still experienced one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in Southeast Asia. Millions went hungry and jobless as businesses closed, and those infected struggled to get beds in hospitals. Healthcare workers have resigned out of fear and exhaustion as they bear the brunt of what critics say is a failed pandemic response. The government has been heavily criticized for its sluggish vaccination campaigns, overly militarized solutions, and corruption of billions in pandemic response funds.

Third Place
Third Place

Views of the lava of the volcano of Cumbre Vieja from the Mountain of the municipality of La Laguna, on November 17, 2021, in La Palma, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain). All 65 people from the media have visited the exclusion zone in a security convoy. On this occasion, the accredited journalists have accessed the top of the La Laguna mountain and the La Laguna church square. According to the latest data provided by the Copernicus satellite, the lava from the La Palma volcano has already covered a total of 1,042.1 hectares since the eruption began on September 19, affecting or destroying 2,623 buildings / constructions so far. In total, there are already some 7,000 people who have had to leave their homes at some point since the beginning of the eruption.

Honorable Mention
Honorable Mention

Bernard Ishnook cleans the head of a two-year-old bull moose taken earlier in the day while under the northern lights on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, near Stevens Village, Alaska.