List of National Geographic cover stories (1980s)



National Geographic is an American magazine that is noted for its cover stories and accompanying photography. Throughout the 1980s National Geographic's cover stories showcased historical events such as the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens and the effects of the weather phenomenon known as El Niño. Cover stories included articles written by notable writers such as Peter Benchley, Gilbert M. Grosvenor and Rick Gore. Cover photos were published by notable photographers such as Emory Kristof, Bill Curtsinger and David Alan Harvey.

The 1980s saw articles written and photographed at locations around the globe featuring outer space, like the September 1983 issue titled "Satellites That Serve Us", written by Thomas Y. Canby with a photo on the cover of the Space Shuttle Challenger, photographed by NASA. Articles featured on the cover of the magazine also included human-interest stories such as "Visit to Forbidden Tibet", written and photographed by Fred Ward featuring a Tibetan Shepherdess in the February 1980 issue. Many geographical locations were featured including the Atlantic Ocean and the discovery of the Titanic in the December 1985 article "How We Found Titanic", written and photographed by Robert Ballard.

In the June 1985 issue, Debra Denker wrote the cover story titled "Along Afghanistan's War-torn Frontier", writing about the Soviet and Afghanistan war. The photo on the cover of the magazine featured a picture of a Green-eyed Afghanistan girl (Sharbat Gula) photographed by Steve McCurry. This cover image is National Geographic's most recognized photo.