The Skeleton Flower
It is otherwise a normal white flower, growing in the cooler regions of China and Japan. When it rains however his look changes drastically, from the warm white to transparent and crystal-like, hence the name "Skeleton Flower". Its petals are very delicate, their pigmentation consists of a unique chemical composition, which disappears when it touches water and gives the flower its mesmerizing look. The Skeleton flower is mostly seen in wooded areas in the mountains. It prefers shady environment, without too much direct sunlight. As an endemic plant it is not very common outside its small territory.
Geyser Eruptions
Geysers are different from hot springs in that the hot water, stored inside their underground reservoirs, only has a tight shaft to go through. This makes the water in the upper parts of the canal colder and pressing downwards, while its lower parts are getting super heated way above the boiling point. Eventually an eruption like a volcano happens and keeps happening overtime when more water is stored. What is so unique about the whole process is how initially a big bubble of water forms before eventually exploding high into the air. It is a rare and exciting thing to see, the birth of another natural wonder.
Snow Chimneys
Strange things happen around the Arctic as we already saw, the snow chimneys are just one more thing to add to the pile. Steam vents, which allow hot gases to escape to the surface, are a common sight around volcanoes. Its different when the temperatures get super low. The gases eventually freeze up, a new portion gets out but then it freezes up again, and again, and again, until we have our lovely snow chimney, 60 feet high and still puffing out smoke. Probably some people have walked around trying to find the door too.
Green Flash
It happens during sunset or sunrise. While watching the sun we suddenly see a green spot on top of it for a couple of seconds. It is the so called Green Flash and it happens mostly during sunset, rarely during sunrise. The explanation is simple, once The Sun starts disappearing over the horizon the colors of its light also start disappearing one by one. Sometimes, when the conditions are right, the air acts like a weak prism and flashes a different color at us, most of the times its green but it can also be something stranger like blue or violet. Different air conditions produce different types of flashes, some of them even extending into rays of light and making the sunsets even more lovely.
Hair Ice
Something strange is happening during the winter. A fluffy ice can be seen on dead trees on the ground. It is very soft and looks more like something made out of silk than ice. So how it is formed? Logs can soak up moisture and keep it within themselves like a sponge. Similarly to a sponge when we grab one we can squeeze out the water. Since ice has a bigger volume though, once the liquid freezes it makes its way out of the pores of the logs and into these interesting forms. Fungi, living inside the dead wood, can accelerate this process and create more beautiful Hair Ice.
The Flowering Desert
Something very unusual happens in the Atacama desert, Chile. Once every several years between September and November the barren landscape turns into a blooming garden because of the unusually high rainfall it receives. The dormant seeds sleep deep down, waiting for the rainwater to touch them and bring them to life, making the whole 200 kilometers stretch into a completely new ecosystem, with its own insects, birds and lizards. Atacama is a great tourist destination, especially if you manage to witness both the original desert and its flowering transition.
Fairy Circles
They are still a mystery even today. These circular patches of land, between 2 and 15 meters in diameter, are seen in the southern arid planes of Africa. They are completely barren, even though the vegetation around them doesn't seem to have any problems growing and prospering. One of the possible explanations is that termites, who live underneath, consume the vegetation and leave the spots on the ground perfectly clean, but so far this is not 100% proven. Maybe aliens are the cause, who knows.
The Danish Black Sun
Migrating birds are not that weird by themselves. Starlings are notorious for moving from Scandinavia in the summer to southern Europe in the winter. They tend to converge in Denmark before deciding where to go. We are talking about up to one million birds here, so many they literally block the sunset and create very weird formations in the air, resembling things like faces, airplanes and mushrooms. Even better when a predatory bird enters the flock and the whole system starts behaving erratically. The coordination of these starlings is impeccable and their movement is a grand sight to behold.
The Calcified Birds
Lake Natron in Tanzania is a very dangerous place. The neighboring volcano has made its waters very caustic and deadly for anything but a select number of evolved fish. Any bird, who touches the water, is thought to die immediately and fall into the lake, later its corpse turns into a very elaborate statue, hence the calcifying name. Explorers think that birds and other flying critters, get confused by the lake's reflection and fall victims to it, forever frozen in time when brought to the surface afterwards. It is a bizarre, but still beautiful natural exposition.
The Enchanted River
The Philippines are the home of some amazing natural wonders and this river is one of the most sought out attractions. The Enchanted River is 25 meters deep and has a crystal clear salt water, a paradise of sorts for locals and tourists alike. It is called enchanted because its source is unknown so far, it hasn't been found yet. Some speculate it is the sea itself. Because of its close proximity to the river a sea water can go through deep canals on the island and emerge as the Enchanted River. Others thing fairies and pixies did it, which can also be the truth considering how magical it is.
Pink Lakes
There is a number pink lakes across the world, from Canada and Spain to Senegal and Australia. They all have similarities. For example they are salt lakes and the pink color comes from microorganisms, often algae, which produce this unusual dye. They are hot tourist attractions, especially the lakes in Australia, like Lake Hiller, which are surrounded with lush vegetation and thus making their pink color even more prominent. Another of their properties is how the unusual color stays, even when we take a small quantity of water from them. Some of the lakes are used in the salt industry and are not only an eye candy.
The Underwater Forest
Lake Kaindy in Kazakhstan is known for its unique submerged forest. It formed in 1911, when an earthquake and the resulting limestone landslide submerged the area under 30 meters of water. The lake is very clear, visitors can look down and see the pine trees below, which were conserved into the cold waters(the water temperature never rises above several degrees Celsius). It is a very peculiar thing to see, the tree tops coming out of the water look like spears. During the winter the lake freezes over and becomes a great spot for fishing.
Rainbow Eucalyptus Trees
The only eucalyptus tree, which grows in the Northern hemisphere, is also one of the most interesting trees in the world. Located in New Britain, New Guinea and Seram, it has an unusual rainbow-like trunk of different colors. The Eucalyptus Deglupta(its scientific name) sheds some of its bark throughout the year, revealing new green bark underneath, kind of like what snakes do. This green bark matures into colorful blue, purple, orange and even maroon tones, giving the tree its happy party look. It can be planted as an ornamental tree but beware, it has no frost resistance.
Thor's Well
This legendary sinkhole sits on the stormy coast of Oregon. It is about 20 feet deep and constantly takes in sea water. It looks so amazing that the Thor's Well is called a natural salt water fountain. During high tides and storms you can get the best pictures, however the hole itself is very dangerous. The rocks around it are sharp and pointy enough, but if you manage to go through them and fall inside there is a zero chance of survival. It will gobble you up for angering a god.
World's Largest Mirror
Or at least the world's largest natural mirror, this salt flat is an amazing thing to see. Spanning across thousands of kilometers in Bolivia, it can show you a perfect reflection of yourself and the sky above. Salar de Uyuni formed after several lakes combined, and created a several meters deep completely flat salt crust. It needs a bit of rainfall to become the perfect mirror, but when it happens you'll feel like you are walking on the clouds. It is not only a source of salt but it also has the biggest deposit of lithium in the world hidden underneath. A true natural wonder.
The Crystal Cave
Based in Chihuahua, Mexico, approximately 300 meters under the surface and connected to a local mine is a very unusual cave. It is full of crystals, some of them as large as 12 meters and weighing 55 tonnes. Seeing it however has its price. The cave is very hot, up to 58 degrees Celsius, and can only be entered for 10 minutes, otherwise you'll need a protective gear. The magma below kept the water at 50 degrees Celsius, made it rich with minerals and allowed these amazing crystals to be produced about 500 000 years ago. It is still not fully explored because of its extreme conditions.
Volcanic Lightning
This lightning makes the volcanic eruptions even scarier. Also called dirty thunderstorms, these natural phenomena are best observed during the night and a several minutes after the initial explosion. Scientists are yet to find the reason for the volcanic lightning, but it is widely accepted that it forms when the rock, ash and ice pieces fragment and collide. The positively charged particles get separated from the negatively charged ones and when the force of this separation increases a lightning is born, sometimes as long as 2 miles. Scary.
Earthquake Lights
Another scary phenomenon, which occurs in the wake of a natural disaster, has been a mystery for years. These doomed lights are observed above the ground in regions with seismic and volcanic activity. Their colors vary, from white to full blown rainbow. Only recently scientists managed to find the answer - the lights appear because of the electrical properties of some rocks while under the specific circumstances of an earthquake. Basically they are electrical charges, formed under great stress. The rocks, which usually release them, are basalts and gabbros. When you see these lights you better start looking for a place to hide!
Fire Devils
Or otherwise called fire whirls and fire twisters, are the famed fire tornadoes. Yes, they exist, although it is extremely rare for them to grow into a full blown tornado, they are more reminiscent of their cousins the dust devils. They are mostly seen during wildfires. When the dry air close to the ground heats up a lot, it rapidly ascends until it dissipates at a certain height and a fire column is formed. As long as there is a fresh fuel of rising dry air the column will start spinning and twisting around, picking up flames and ash. Fire devils are usually very skinny, but this doesn't make them any less terrifying.
Sailing Stones
Death Valley, USA, has its very own little secret. During the night, stones move, leaving long trails on the ground. For years they have been one of the biggest mysteries in the world and a source of wild speculations. The truth, as it always happens, is much more mundane. Desert nights are cold, ice is formed on the edges of the rocks between them and the ground. When the wind blows, it moves them around and makes them leave these fascinating trails.
Skypunch
Interesting clouds are appearing around the world all the time. This however is not a cloud but rather an empty space in a cloud formation. The hole forms when the water in this particular patch of clouds freezes up. The tiny ice particles are heavier than the surrounding air, so they drop down and form the Skypunch. It is a rare sight and because of that it is often mistaken for an alien object. Or another doomsday device. The Skypunch is another reason to look at the skies, they are just so interesting.
The Condo Effect Fog
And now it is time for something, which happens because of a human intervention. Condos are tall buildings, sometimes built very close to the shore. When a cool, moist sea air, for example from the Mexican Gulf, hits the tall buildings it starts climbing them, gets even colder and by the time it goes above it already becomes a fog. What we get are very peculiar waves of thin mist, best seen from a helicopter. Sometimes they are called "cloud tsunami" . Similar fog effect happens in the nature as well, when tall mountains are in the way of a sea wind, but it is more exciting when we see them over buildings.
The Brocken Spectre
The Brocken peak in Germany is home of this scary occurrence. On a foggy day you may look up in the sky and see a the giant dark figure of a man up there, looking back at you. It is in fact your own reflection, which comes to life during a very specific chain of events. You must be up on the mountain, looking at the clouds below you with the sun in your back, then you might see the giant spectre. Airplanes can also cast their own big shadows on the cloud below them. Add a rainbow to the effect to make it even more memorable.
The Hessdalen Light
These spooky lights, formed over a valley in central Norway, are still unexplained. Their peak was in the 80s but they are still coming to do their show about 10-20 times each year. The lights differ in their color and behavior. Some of them just float and are as big as cars, while others move around and disappear very rapidly. There are various theories regarding them. Its either a metallic rock, which serves as a battery, ionized gases, a ball lightning or a bunch of playful UFOs. Take your pick.
Upward Lightning
Lightning is weird, no doubt about that. We are already aware of the cloud to cloud and cloud to ground lightning, but how about the upward tall structure to cloud lightning? Turns out this phenomenon is directly related to the construction, which serves as a conduit. When a cloud to cloud lightning forms on top of a tower or a skyscraper what follows is an upward lightning from the top of said building. In other words it only happens because we build high. There are two types of upward lightning, the first is tree-like and very beautiful, the second is a normal branchless discharge. They surely make thunderstorms in the big cities spectacular.
The Green Lake
Grüner See is a mountain lake in Austria. The special thing about it is the unique park, built in its premises. Since there are tall mountains around, the view in the winter is very beautiful and the lake itself is only 1 meters deep. However once summer comes and all this snow starts melting the lake grows to 12 meters deep and swallows the park. Divers are fast to visit and check out the amazing sights below the clear green water - benches, alleys and even a bridge rest peacefully there, waiting for the next winter, like they come out of a fairy tale.
The Blue Antarctica Tunnels
Researches in Antarctica discovered something very peculiar while using an airborne radar on a plane. Under the vast sheets of ice are formed tunnels, big ones, almost as tall as the Eifel Tower. The conclusion is that they were formed because the melting ice created rivers, and these rivers dug their way to the sea. The tunnels are not inaccessible to humans, some of them are discovered by people, stationed in Antarctica. One in particular, The Blue Tunnel near the Schirmacher Oasis, is a lovely path under a thick blue ice.
The Red Beach
The year is 2012, the country - Australia, the culprit is a very large algae bloom, which turned the water in the Sydney beaches blood red. Tourists panicked, as expected, and assumed the red color came from the mangled corpses of a shark attack victims. Nothing like that though, the algae are tiny plants with some unique bioluminescent properties. While the water is angry red during the day, it becomes soothing blue during the night and eventually after a week or so it clears out.
Brinicles
If you have the privilege of swimming under the sea ice, you can see some very interesting ice forms, namely the brinicles, which are similar to the icicles formed on the ground. It is all about the brine, aka water with lots and lots of salt in it. The brine is stored within the ice on the surface, and when this ice cracks it starts leaking out. It attracts sea water, but since it is a very cold substance and freezes up at a lower temperatures, the sea water around it freezes and forms these peculiar ice forms, which come from the ice above and point towards the seabed.
Snow Donuts
Nope, you can't eat them(or you can but they are not very tasty). These cylindrical snowballs sometimes have the form of a perfect donut, with the hole in the middle and all. Unfortunately they are not that easy to create. A big lump of snow needs to fall from somewhere high, like a tree, then it has to start rolling down a slope thanks to the wind. When it finally stops the final touches are done by blowing off its center, and it makes sense because its inner layer is thinner than the outer ones. Voila and bon appétit!
