National Geographic - USA (2021-12)

WHO HASN’T PAUSED to appreciate a beautiful sunset?

Or listen to the wind rustling through the trees? By

the sea, there are mesmerizing tides and a salt-air

scent; in the sky, dazzling formations of birds, and

endless stars.

Behind all those experiences are the natural forces that power

our planet. They give rise to the sounds, smells, and sights we

perceive; the life that swarms around us, moving at every speed.

Those phenomena are the focus of this special issue and of a six-

part National Geographic television series, starring Will Smith

and available on Disney+.

In print and broadcast media and on digital and social platforms,

this project shares one title: Welcome to Earth. That’s an oddly

appropriate greeting, addressing us as if we’re strangers to a place

we think we know well. But we may find that we don’t know it well at

all, as Welcome to Earth invites us to look at the planet in new ways.

In this issue, six chapters explore one phenomenon each, such as

color, sound, speed, and pattern. I don’t want to give away too much

In Tanzania’s Serengeti

National Park, two male

lions take a break in a

dry lake bed.

The National

Geographic series

Welcome to Earth is

available on Disney+

December 8.

before you turn the page—but I will

say that the chapter on smell features

a process we’ve used just once before in

National Geographic’s 133-year history:

a “scratch and sniff ” sample. Check

page 26 to see what that’s about. Then

there’s the chapter documenting life

on the Serengeti, amazing storytelling

that features the photography of Charlie

Hamilton James.

“I’ve been going back and forth to

the Serengeti for 25 years, and it’s never

lost its wonder to me,” Hamilton James

says. “There simply isn’t anywhere bet-

ter on Earth to photograph wildlife.”

Cumulatively, he’s spent more than two

years there for National Geographic to

capture the epic annual migration of

about 1.3 million wildebeests—a swarm

if ever there was one.

Also included in this issue, in print

and online: a Serengeti poster with

maps and illustrations by Nat Geo art-

ists and cartographers.

Each month, we aim to transport

you to places you’ve never been and to

show you the world anew. I hope you

think this issue more than fills the bill.

Thank you for reading National

Geographic. j

PHOTO: CHARLIE HAMILTON JAMES

FROM THE EDITOR

SUSAN GOLDBERG

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GETTING TO KNOW

EARTH ANEW

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