This weekend marks the summer solstice and the longest day of the year this Saturday, June 21st. This means our closest star, the sun, will reach its northern most point in the sky before moving south again.
To celebrate, we collected the coolest images of sunsets and sunrises that our photographers have snapped over the years while documenting environmental crises, endangered wild places and acts of civil disobedience all over the globe.
You can celebrate the summer solstice as well by getting outdoors and participating in our #NatureSelfie contest! Just snap of photo of yourself enjoying the outdoors, post it to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest or Google+ and tag with #NatureSelfie!
Check greenpeaceblogs.org to see if we feature your photo!
Polar Bears wandering over the snow. Cape Churchill, Hudson Bay, Canada.
People on a small boat in Yarsale, the last town at the edge of the wilderness of the Yamal Peninsula. The indigenous Nenets people come here to stock up on supplies twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn. The entire region is under heavy threat from global warming as temperatures increase and Russias ancient permafrost melts.
Sunrise over the reef at Kanawa Island near Flores, Indonesia.
The sun rises over the Columbia River Gorge, a scenic area at risk from expanding transportation of coal to proposed export terminals in the Pacific Northwest.
Sunset in the forest in Suja village. Lamandau Sub-District, Central Kalimantan.
A Chume (Tepee) in a tribe of indigenous Nenets people met by a Greenpeace team during an expedition to document the effects of climate change in the Yamal Peninsula. The region is under heavy threat from global warming as temperatures increase and Russias ancient permafrost melts.
Arctic sea ice in the Labrador Sea. Seen from the Greenpeace Ship Arctic Sunrise.
Sunset over the Rift Valley Savanna, Serengeti, Tanzania in Africa, home to a large lion population and the biggest terrestrial mammal migration in the world.
Sunset over the Mochovce Nuclear Power Plant in Slovakia. The next two towers are currently under construction. The Slovak government insists in pursuing this project despite old technology and several security concerns.
Sunrise over Christian graves outside the city of Kaktovik. Most of the Inupiat were converted to Christianity in the 19th century by missionaries.
Sunrise over the northern Pacific is seen from aboard the MY Esperanza.
ENTER OUR #NATURESELFIE CONTEST AND SHOW US HOW YOU DO SUMMER!
The sun rises behind wind turbines. The Maranchon Wind Farm is the largest in Europe with 104 generators, and is operated by Iberdrola, the largest wind energy company in the world.
The “Stop Deep Sea Oil” flotilla vessel Windborne, New Zealand from Whitianga approaching the seismic survey ship the Orient Explorer off the East Cape.
Arctic sunrise. The morning sun is rising at about 2 am in the morning at midst July in IIulissat, Greenland.
Danish offshore wind farm, Nysted Havmoellepark with 72 wind mills. Each wind mill provides 2.3 megawatts of energy.
The Cree Nation of Waswanipi, with the support of a team from Greenpeace, organized a media expedition to the Cree ancestral lands in the Broadback Valley Endangered Forest. This is where the Cree are fighting to protect whats left of their ancestral lands. Already, 90% of the Waswanipi Cree Nations territory has been logged or fragmented.
Greenpeace flag ship, Rainbow Warrior is seen sailing in the Mediterranean sea at sunset. Greenpeace was in the Mediterranean to take action against the bluefin tuna fishing fleets and to promote marine reserves.
Greenpeace and Tcktcktck volunteers raise a wind turbine on the beach at dawn in Durban, South Africa.
Happy summer solstice!
