We’re not here to tell you that nature is amazing – you already know it. Yet, that does not mean that knowing this fact eliminates the factor of various natural phenomena being totally breathtaking and awe-inspiring! And, since we love ourselves a bit of beautiful nature in our day, here’s our list of the most wondrous natural phenomena on Earth.
But before we skip straight to the natural phenomena examples, we must contain our excitement and learn what exactly these amazing nature occurrences are. So, for starters, we must know that these majestical things always happen without the interference of humans (that’s why they’re called natural), and it’s all nature’s play. Now, examples of natural phenomena include, but are not limited to, gravity, tides, moons, sandstorms, oscillation, volcanic lighting, cloud formations, and even ant armies! And while some of these occurrences do happen pretty frequently – like rainbows – some rare natural phenomena only grace us perhaps once a year or in one specific place. And very predictably, Australia has plenty of these weird natural phenomena to itself. Well, we guess it’s a fair trade for living in a place where everything can eliminate you – at least you get a pretty view!
Anyway, it’s not all about Australia in this list, and as you’re about to see, these beautiful nature occurrences do happen everywhere in the world. From glowworm caves to light pillars to a literal hellhole, there are lots of natural phenomena to gawk at on this list! So, scroll down below, check out the submissions, and give your vote to the natural phenomena examples you found the most awesome.
#1 Light Pillars, Canada
This incredible phenomenon occurs when ice crystals are suspended in the air due to extreme cold conditions. The crystal then reacts with every light source around and create this stunning view.
#2 Bioluminescent Shore, Maldives
Again, this might seem magical and otherworldly, but bioluminescent phytoplankton actually creates this view of a starry shore.
#3 Lenticular Clouds
Lenticular clouds are stunning everywhere, but especially so when they hang atop the Mayon Volcano crater!
#4 Moonbow, Hawaii
Commonly known as lunar rainbows, they differ from regular rainbows in that the moon’s beams produce them rather than the sun.
#5 Rainbow Eucalyptus
Probably the only reason this tree exists is to be a living work of art!
#6 Bismuth Crystals
Known to be included in Pepto-Bismol as well as other well-known items like safety valves and paintings, bismuth is a solid, highly lustrous grey metal.
#7 Halos
Similar to fire rainbows, halos require just the correct arrangement of ice crystals to develop in clouds located far above Earth’s surface in order to perfectly bend sunlight into a ring.
#8 Glowworm Caves, New Zeland
Most of these caves are in Australia and New Zealand, although there is also a well-known one in Alabama. The most well-known are the Waitomo Caves in New Zealand, formed more than 30 million years ago.
#9 Aurora Borealis, Iceland
Although Aurora Borealis might seem like pure magic, it actually appears when electrically charged particles from the sun react with atoms in the upper atmosphere. Expect it to see on a freezing cold night!
#10 Sky Mirror, Bolivia
It’s Salar de Uyuni – the largest salt flat in the world. The views are pretty surreal there!
#11 Sakurajima Dirty Thunderstorms, Japan
Sakurajima volcano is just breathtaking when it rains fire and ash.
#12 Desert Roses
It is a rose-like gypsum mineral formation that can grow in arid, sandy areas that periodically flood. Gypsum crystals can grow between sand grains and trap them due to the transition between wet and dry conditions.
#13 Circumhorizontal Arc
When sunlight or moonlight is refracted by air ice crystals, ice halos that mimic fire rainbows are created.
#14 Frozen Ice Bubbles, Canada
These bubbles are created by the emission of inflammable methane gas. The bubbles freeze in ice and we get these incredible patterns!
#15 Marble Caves, Chile
We doubt a few would mind seeing these gorgeous views in real life! These incredible caves and walls took around 6000 years to form, and it was the waves that washed them into these breathtaking shapes.
#16 Lake Hillier, Australia
This vivid natural phenomenon in Australia is caused by the high salt content of the water and the energy released by the microalgae “Dunaliella Salina.”
#17 Danxia Landform, China
Minerals are magic, and so are their colors. Just look at this place! It’s like Pantone bursted here!
#18 Sandstone Waves, Arizona
“The Wave” features intersecting throughs of sandstone that have converted to rock that were formerly dunes in Arizona dating back more than 190 million years. The dunes grow vertically and horizontally; over time, moderate erosion brought on by wind and rain reveals their wave-like appearance.
#19 Great Blue Hole, Belize
This virtually perfect sphere of the deep blue abyss, formed during the last ice age when the sea level was much lower, is a haven for scuba divers. Naturally, the hole grew into a much more endless chasm as the sea level rose.
#20 Blue Volcano, Indonesia
Although it seems absolutely otherworldly, the Kawah Iljen volcano is absolutely real! It gets this color due to high quantities of sulfuric gas – it glimmers blue once it comes in contact with air.
#21 Giant’s Causeway, Ireland
Although these hexagon-shaped boulders seem like a man-made creation it’s absolutely the workings of nature!
#22 The Underwater River, Mexico
When fresh top water meets exposed salty groundwater, an underwater river forms. The different density levels in the two water bodies cause them to layer. The result is a breathtaking convergence of two habitats.
#23 Mammatus Cloud
This magical cloud structure is a beautiful sight to behold and is typically visible after the tornado has passed.
#24 Socotra Dragon Tree, Yemen
They probably remember dinosaurs! Also, as legend states, these trees bleed dragon blood when cut.
#25 Eternal Flame Falls
It’s not entirely natural, a little waterfall in upstate New York, close to the Canadian border, conceals a significant surprise: an eight-inch-tall jet of fire. There is a natural gas leak that fuels the flame behind the waterfall. Although hikers do re-light it if they notice it has been blown out, it is protected enough by the waterfall to remain lighted quite consistently.
#26 Catatumbo Lightning, Venezuela
Currents of chilly and warm air combine a few kilometers above the point where the Catatumbo river merges with the Maracaibo lake to literally electrify the place.
#27 Spotted Lake, Canada
This landform’s numerous colorful lakes are simply the result of a high concentration of minerals in the water. Of course, as a result, it’s regarded as Canada’s most magical location and we cannot argue with that!
#28 Forest Of Knives, Madagascar
Yup, you’d have to pay us dearly to risk tackling this enormous limestone formation so aptly called the Forest of Knives!
#29 Flowering Desert, South America
A desert in bloom is truly a breathtaking view!
#30 Morning Glory Cloud, Australia
The Morning Glory Cloud is a very rare phenomenon, but since we’re talking about Australia, things are just different there. So, if you’re ever in the Gulf of Carpentaria, you can observe these awesome clouds pretty often!
#31 Kjeragbolten Boulder, Norway
The boulder, known as Kjeragbolten, is stuck in a tough spot. The glaciers in Norway alternately melted and overflowed, causing the natural phenomenon to become stranded. Nevertheless, it has become a well-liked hike for adventure seekers. You can ascend more than 1000 meters with the Kjeragbolten boulder.
#32 Sailing Stones, USA
These are, in fact, rocks, and they do, in fact, move! However, there’s no mystery here – these rocks get encased in ice and move due to natural buoyancy when partially immersed in water.
#33 Nacreous Clouds
Ice polar stratospheric clouds, or nacreous clouds, occur mainly at high latitudes and most often when the temperatures drop below freezing. Freezing or not, this is a view we’d love to see at least once in our lives!
#34 Fallstreak Hole
Although not really a hole in the sky, it definitely looks like one! Fallstreak holes form when the water temperature in clouds hasn’t dropped to freezing yet due to ice nucleation.
#35 Frost Flowers
A sudden drop in temperatures creates these frost flowers, and to us, they look like the embodiment of poetry! (okay, except for maybe horses, running water, and fire)
#36 Eye Of The Sahara, Africa
Are you feeling as though you’re being watched from above? The Eye of the Sahara is a natural artwork, created by ages of eruptions and erosions.
#37 River Of Five Colours, Colombia
It’s not an illusion created by the rocks at the bottom of this river, it’s really the color of the water!
#38 Pele’s Hair Lava, Havaii
Lava droplets from volcanic eruptions can be caught by the wind and stretched into what are essentially long, thin glass wires. These hair-like strands, often known as Pele’s hair, can extend up to 6 feet. The phenomenon, known as Witch’s Hair in Norway, is also present in Hawaii and is named after Pele, the goddess of volcanoes.
#39 Sort Sol, Denmark
Every autumn, flocks of Starling birds undertake an ostentatious sky march, creating the picturesque phenomenon known as “the black sun.”
#40 Blood Falls
An underground lake supplies water to Blood Falls, which is located in one of Antarctica’s driest places. Because these bacteria use sulfates as fuel rather than sugars, experts are interested in studying and learning more about them.
#41 Moeraki Boulders, New Zealand
As if New Zealand wasn’t stunning enough, it also got these cool rocks!
#42 Pando Aspen Grove, Utah
Although it might seem like your regular grove, those aren’t hundreds of trees. Not even tens! Pando Aspen Grove consists of just a single colony of naturally cloned Quaking Aspen male trees and it makes the largest living organism on earth.
#43 Ice Caves, Iceland
As if Iceland wasn’t the most gorgeous and mystical place on earth, they also got these awesome-looking, ages-old ice caves.
#44 Snow Chimneys, Antarctica
This stunning snow pillar results from the heat inside the volcano battling the cold outside. Only in Antarctica!
#45 Volcanic Lightning
Although it is challenging to examine, there are some theories as to why it occurs. One of the most frequent is lightning, which is caused when ash from an eruption accumulates so much friction that static electricity builds up.
#46 Shooting Stars
Meteors, or tiny rocks penetrating the earth’s atmosphere, appear as shooting stars. The particles are burning and heating up as you see the light. A shooting star should appear every ten to fifteen minutes for observers of the stars.
#47 Turquoise Ice Crystals, Russia
The laden snow crusts sparkle in the finest colors when the temperature fluctuates.
#48 Darvaza Gas Crater, Turkmenistan
This is nothing more than a botched attempt by scientists to halt the release of methane gas from a dormant oilfield. It’s been blazing continuously for more than 48 years now!
#49 Striped Icebergs, Antarctica
As if icebergs weren’t already breathtaking, you can also get them in the even more breathtaking striped variety!
#50 Waterspout
If you ever see this ominous view outside your window, hide away! It’s a clear sign that a tornado is coming.
#51 Green Flash Sunset
Truly an ephemeric wonder here – you blink, and you’ll miss it. And although we’re a bit more used to seeing orange and purple sunsets, seeing this green beauty would surely be a treat! It’s caused be the refraction of sunlight in the atmosphere.
#52 Whirlpools
Whirlpools are created when opposing currents collide, and they are frequently considerably more terrifying in fiction than in reality. The strongest whirlpools, known as maelstroms, are generated in shallow, fast-moving, narrow straits or at the base of waterfalls, but the swirl’s speed hardly ever reaches 20 mph.
#53 Ice Penitentes, South America
These snow pointers, which were given their name because they resembled little priests kneeling in prayer, are created when water vapor moves in the direction of the light and freezes as a result.
#54 Tidal Bores, Brazil
Tidal bores happen when a river’s current struggles with the oncoming tide. Even the best surfers can be humbled by the experience since it can be so daring.
