2025 in Photos: A Look at the Middle Months
On July 3, 2025, NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers made headlines when she captured a stunning image of a rare atmospheric phenomenon known as a sprite, while aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as it passed over a storm in Mexico. Sprites are classified as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs) and are characterized by their brief flashes of light that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, often triggered by the intense electrical activity of lightning below. Ayers shared her excitement about the sighting, emphasizing the scientific significance of such rare occurrences and their connection to the complex dynamics of weather systems. This image not only highlights the beauty of our planet from space but also serves as a reminder of the intricate interplay between atmospheric phenomena and climate.
The image of the sprite is a part of a larger narrative unfolding in 2025, a year marked by significant global events that reflect both natural disasters and human resilience. For instance, just weeks after Ayers’ photograph, a devastating tornado struck Sunshine Hills, Kentucky, leaving destruction in its wake and highlighting the increasing frequency of extreme weather events. Similarly, in Brazil, geese were found swimming in a stream stained blue due to a chemical spill, showcasing the environmental challenges faced by communities worldwide. Amidst these incidents, the political landscape has also been tumultuous, with protests erupting in Argentina against economic measures and pension reforms, while in the United States, widespread demonstrations against immigration policies have been met with heavy police presence.
As we navigate through 2025, the juxtaposition of breathtaking natural phenomena like Ayers’ sprite and the stark realities of climate change, social unrest, and political strife underscores the urgent need for awareness and action. The sprite serves as a symbol of both the wonders of our atmosphere and the pressing challenges we face as a global community. As scientists and citizens alike continue to document and respond to these events, the hope is to foster a deeper understanding of our environment and inspire meaningful change in how we address the complexities of our world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nBu-1Ly0IY
Nichole Ayers / NASA
On July 3, 2025, NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers captured an amazing image of a sprite, a rarely photographed weather phenomenon, as the International Space Station passed above a storm over Mexico. Ayers
wrote
: “Sprites are TLEs, or Transient Luminous Events, that happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below.”
Wang Jian / VCG / Getty
Tourists take photos of the illuminated Chaoran Tower on the first day of the May Day holiday in Jinan, Shandong province, China, on May 1, 2025.
Franco Origlia / Getty
Pope Leo XIV leads the Regina Caeli prayer in St. Peter’s Square on May 11, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. Pope Leo (formerly Robert Francis Prevost) was elected to the papacy on May 8 following the death of Pope Francis on April 21.
Andre Penner / AP
Geese stained blue swim in the Tulipas stream after a truck accidentally spilled chemical dye into the water in Jundiai, Brazil, on May 16, 2025.
Kunga Sherpa / AP
Mountaineers form a long queue as they approach the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal, on May 18, 2025.
Michael Swensen / Getty
Lesly Karen Cornett stands in a doorway in her destroyed house on May 18, 2025, in Sunshine Hills, outside of London, Kentucky. She and her husband took shelter in their bathtub and were fortunate to only receive a few cuts. A tornado struck the neighborhood of Sunshine Hills just after midnight on May 17, 2025.
Luis Robayo / AFP / Getty
A woman wearing a protective helmet poses outside the National Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on May 21, 2025, during a protest called by pensioners against the economic measures of President Javier Milei’s government and demanding an increase in their pensions.
Alexandre Agrusti / AFP / Getty
This photograph shows the remaining buildings of the village of Blatten, in the Swiss Alps, buried by a landslide, on May 29, 2025. Blatten residents were evacuated the previous week after several smaller landslides. Rising floodwater from the blocked Lonza River inundated the few surviving buildings and threatened downstream villages.
Asif Hassan / AFP / Getty
A worker cleans the lines of a cooling tower at an ice factory on a hot summer day in Karachi, Pakistan, on May 29, 2025.
Matias Delacroix / AP
A scientist from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute captured a bat for research in Gamboa, Panama, on June 1, 2025.
Jehad Alshrafi / AP
Thick smoke and flames erupt from an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, on June 1, 2025.
Maxar / DigitalGlobe / Getty
A satellite view of the aftermath of a coordinated drone strike shows destroyed Russian Tu-95 bombers on the tarmac at Belaya Air Base, in Russia’s Irkutsk Oblast. The image reveals significant blast damage and charred aircraft remains. Ukraine claims to have damaged or destroyed 40 large Russian aircraft in the attack.
Yuriy Dyachyshyn / AFP / Getty
Oleksandr Zavnenko, an amputee and Ukrainian veteran of the fight against Russia’s invasion, dances on prosthetic legs with his wife, Maria, a professional choreographer, in Lviv, on June 4, 2025.
Ringo Chiu / AFP / Getty
Police officers stand in line outside the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, in front of Barbara Kruger’s artwork
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, in Los Angeles, as police clashed with protesters nearby, on June 8, 2025.
Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP / Getty
L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputies fire a nonlethal weapon at a man after he threw a can at them following a protest against federal immigration operations near L.A. City Hall, on June 11, 2025. Protests against Donald Trump’s harsh immigration policies spread on June 11 across the United States despite a military-backed crackdown in Los Angeles and threats by the hard-right Republican president to use “heavy force.”
Adnan Abidi / Reuters
A person walks past debris at a crash site after an Air India aircraft, bound for London’s Gatwick Airport, crashed during takeoff from an airport in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12, 2025.
Patrick Smith / Getty
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland throws his club on the 12th hole during the second round of the 125th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club on June 13, 2025, in Oakmont, Pennsylvania.
Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty
Israeli air-defense systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over the city of Tel Aviv early on June 18, 2025. Israel and Iran exchanged fire again on June 17, the fifth day of strikes in their most intense confrontation in history, fueling fears of a drawn-out conflict that could engulf the Middle East.
Olga Fedorova / AP
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is placed under arrest by ICE and FBI agents outside federal immigration court on June 17, 2025, in New York City.
Jim Vondruska / Getty
Search-and-rescue workers dig through debris looking for any survivors or remains of people swept up in the flash flooding on July 6, 2025, in Hunt, Texas. Heavy rainfall in central Texas set off flash floods, causing the Guadalupe River to rise 26 feet in less than an hour and reportedly killing more than 130 people—including many girls at a summer camp.
Nathan Howard / Bloomberg / Getty
An aerial view of an Amazon Web Services data center situated beside a residential development in Haymarket, Virginia, on July 9, 2025. Total power usage in the U.S. is expected to climb 2.15 percent in 2026, spurred largely by a 5 percent spike from commercial users because of the expansion of data centers, according to a U.S. Energy Department report released in June.
CFoto / Future Publishing / Getty
An overview of part of the site of a 450,000-kilowatt integrated solar, thermal, and storage project in the Gobi Desert in Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China, on July 8, 2025.
Michael Chow / The Arizona Republic / USA Today / Reuters
The Dragon Bravo fire burns on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, as seen from the South Rim on July 14, 2025. The wildfire in Arizona grew rapidly over the previous weekend, destroying the historic Grand Canyon Lodge and dozens of other structures along the canyon’s North Rim.
Lindsey Wasson / AP
Golden State Valkyries center Temi Fagbenle loses the ball against Seattle Storm forward Ezi Magbegor and guard Erica Wheeler, during the first half of a WNBA basketball game in Seattle on July 16, 2025.
Aaron Favila / AP
Despite flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains, Jade Rick Verdillo and Jamaica Aguilar decided to stick to their planned wedding date, and held the ceremony inside a flooded church in Malolos, Bulacan province, Philippines, on July 22, 2025.
Thanassis Stavrakis / AP
A man uses a motorcycle to carry a sheep to safety, during a wildfire in Patras, Greece, on August 13, 2025.
Indranil Mukherjee / AFP / Getty
Abandoned buses, discontinued from active service, stand overgrown with creeper vines and other vegetation at a bus depot in Mumbai, India, on July 26, 2025.
Charly Triballeau / AFP / Getty
A woman and her child arrive at a hearing as federal agents patrol the hallways outside of a courtroom at New York Federal Plaza Immigration Court at the Jacob K. Javitz Federal Building in New York City on August 20, 2025.
Rebecca Blackwell, File / Rebecca Blackwell / AP
People take pictures in front of a sign reading “Alligator Alcatraz” as passersby, some opposed, some in support, visit the entrance to an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades on August 28, 2025, in Collier County, Florida.
Vadim Ghirda / AP
Aviation buffs observe a Eurofighter Typhoon German Air Force combat aircraft fly by during a show of military and acrobatic aviation on Caraiman Peak, in Bușteni, Romania, on August 26, 2025.
Richard Tsong-Taatarii / The Minnesota Star Tribune / Getty
A parent runs toward the school during an active-shooter situation at the Annunciation Church in Minneapolis, on August 27, 2025.
Kostiantyn Liberov / Libkos / Getty
Rescuers attend to a victim outside a residential building hit by a Russian missile on August 28, 2025, in Kyiv, Ukraine. The strike hit between the third and fourth floors of a five-story house, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. At least four people were reported killed, with 20 injured, as emergency services continued operations.
