National Geographic is an American magazine that is noted for its cover stories and accompanying photography. Throughout the 1970s National Geographic's cover stories showcased global historical events such as the volcanic eruption of Eldfell at Heimaey island in Iceland. Cover stories included articles written by notable writers such as Robert Redford, Rick Gore, and Paul A. Zahl. Cover photos were published by notable photographers such as Emory Kristof, Winfield Parks and Joan Root.

The 1970s saw articles written and photographed at locations around the globe featuring wildlife like the October, 1978 issue titled "Conversations with a Gorilla", written by Francine Patterson with a photo on the cover of Koko the gorilla, photographed by Ronald H. Cohn. Koko grabbed the camera and took a selfie in a mirror.

Articles featured on the cover of the magazine also included human-interest stories such as "Ladakh-The Last Shangri-La", written and photographed by Thomas J. Abercrombie featuring the people of India in the March, 1978 issue. Many geographical locations were featured including the Amazon River in the October, 1972 article "The Amazon–The Mightiest of Rivers", written and photographed by Loren McIntyre.

In the November, 1971 issue, Samuel W. Mathews and photographer William R. Curtsinger spent months aboard the Research vessel Hero in Antarctica. Photos taken by Curtsinger would be the first pictures of Snow Leopards in the wild and first photos shot in Antarctica.

1970

+ Title Date Author Photographer Images Making Friends With Mountain Gorillas January, 1970 Dian Fossey Robert M. Campbell Baby gorillas with Dian Fossey East Africa's Majestic Flamingos February, 1970 M. Philip Kahl M. Philip Kahl Flamingos feeding Japan's Historic Heartland Hosts Expo '70 March, 1970 Thomas J. Abercrombie Thomas J. Abercrombie Drummer girl in Kyoto White Tiger in My House April, 1970 Elizabeth C. Reed Donna K. Grosvenor Baby white tigress Businessman in the Bush May, 1970 Frederick Kent Truslow Frederick Kent Truslow Black skimmer When in Rome.... June, 1970 Stuart E. Jones Winfield Parks Rome Colosseum The Hutterites, Plain People of the West July, 1970 William Albert Allard William Albert Allard Hutterite family Voyage to the Planets August, 1970 Kenneth F. Weaver Luděk Pešek Saturn The Cobra, India's "Good Snake" September, 1970 Harry Miller Naresh and Rajesh Bedi Cobra with flower by hand Orissa: Past and Promise in an Indian State October, 1970 Bart McDowell James P. Blair Orissa schoolboy Computer Helps Scholars Re-Create An Egyptian Temple November, 1970 Ray Winfield Smith Emory Kristof Regal profile of Nefertiti Pollution, Threat to Man's Only home December, 1970 Gordon Young Bruce Dale Western grebe in oil spill

1971

+ Title Date Author Photographer Images The Voyage of Ra II January, 1971 Thor Heyerdahl Georges Sourial Ra II I live with the Eskimos February, 1971 Guy Mary-Rousselière Guy Mary-Rousselière Eskimo fisherman The Lands and Peoples of Southeast Asia March, 1971 Peter T. White W.E. Garrett Akha woman in Laos The Exquisite Orchids April, 1971 Luis Marden Othmar Danesch Ophrys speculum The Condor, Soaring Spirit of the Andes May, 1971 Jerry McGahan Libby McGahan Condor vulture with Jerry McGahan Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Trail June, 1971 Mike W. Edwards David Hiser Pacific Crest Trail with hikers Apollo 14: The Climb Up Cone Crater July, 1971 Alice J. Hall NASA Alan Shepard (moon) Oklahoma August, 1971 Robert Paul Jordan Robert W. Madden Oklahoma wheat worker Mzima, Kenya's Spring of Life September, 1971 Joan and Alan Root Joan and Alan Root African rock python swimming with Joan Root India's River of Faith, Ganges October, 1971 John J. Putnam Raghubir Singh Indian woman of faith Antarctica's Nearer Side November, 1971 Samuel W. Mathews William R. Curtsinger Gentoo penguin Return to Changing China December, 1971 Audrey Topping Audrey Topping Peking schoolchildren

1972

+ Title Date Author Photographer Images Taboos and Magic Rule Namba Lives January, 1972 Kal Muller Kal Muller New Hebrides woman African Wildlife Man's Threatened Legacy February, 1972 Allan C. Fisher Thomas Nebbia Kenyan leopard Tundra and the Splendors of It's Plants, Birds and Mammals March, 1972 Staff writer John J. Burns Lapland longspur Winter Caravan to the Roof of the World April, 1972 Sabrina and Roland Michaud Roland Michaud Kyrgyz boy Yellowstone's Hundredth Birthday May, 1972 William S. Ellis Jonathan Blair American black bear and bystanders A River Restored: Oregon's Willamette June, 1972 Ethel A. Starbird Lowell J. Georgia Canoeing on the river The Sword and Sermon July, 1972 Thomas J. Abercrombie Thomas J. Abercrombie Saudi Arabian man Stone Age Men of the Philippines August, 1972 Kenneth MacLeish John Launois Tasaday boy climbing tree Yesterday Linger Along the Connecticut September, 1972 Charles McCarry David L. Arnold Penny-farthing cyclist The Amazon-The Mightiest of Rivers October, 1972 Loren McIntyre Loren McIntyre Txukahamei girl in Brazil A Land Apart-The Monterey Peninsula November, 1972 Milke W. Edwards Declan Haun Pfeiffer Beach Those Popular Pandas December, 1972 Theodore H. Reed Bruce Dale Panda bear eating

1973

+ Title Date Author Photographer Images Search for the Oldest People January, 1973 Alexander Leaf John Metzger Ecuadorian man Art of the Aborigines February, 1973 Staff writer Kay and Stanley Breeden Aboriginal rock art The Last U.S. Whale Hunters March, 1973 Emory Kristof Emory Kristof Eskimo whalers canoeing Those Outlandish Goldfish April, 1973 Paul A. Zahl Paul A. Zahl Bubble Eye goldfish France's Wild Watery South May, 1973 William Davenport Hans W. Silverster Stallions in the water Australia's Great Barrier Reef June, 1973 Staff writer Ron Taylor Great Barrier Reef with Valerie Taylor Volcano Overwhelms an Icelandic Village July, 1973 Noel Grove Emory Kristof Volcano on Heimaey island Friend of the Wind: The Common Tern August, 1973 Ian Nisbet Hope Alexander Tern (bird) Change Ripple New Guinea's Sepik River September, 1973 Malcolm S. Kirk Malcolm S. Kirk New Guinea tribesman Chile: Republic on a Shoestring October, 1973 Gordon Young George F. Mobley Chilean woman with umbrella This Is My Island: Tangier November, 1973 Harold G. Wheatley David Alan Harvey Boy and a crab Lost Empire of the Incas December, 1973 Loren McIntyre Loren McIntyre Llama in a canoe

1974

+ Title Date Author Photographer Images Gold, The Eternal Treasure January, 1974 Peter T. White James L. Stanfield Lion in pure gold Maine's Allagash River February, 1974 Staff writer Farrell Grehan Red fox in national park Trekking the Frozen Northwest Passage March, 1974 Colin Irwin Colin Irwin Dogsled in the Arctic The England of Charles Dickens April, 1974 Richard A. Long Adam Woolfitt English boy at a window raining The Incredible Universe May, 1974 Kenneth F. Weaver James P. Blair Night sky Climbing Half Dome The Hard Way June, 1974 Galen Rowell Galen Rowell Rock climbing Half Dome Exploring England's Canals July, 1974 Brian Hodgson Linda Bartlette Oxford Canal The Phoenicians: Sealords of Antiquities August, 1974 Samuel W. Mathews Winfield Parks Phoenician amulet Europe's Shy and Spectacular Kingfisher September, 1974 Staff writer Carl Johan Junge European kingfisher Bhutan Crowns a Dragon King October, 1974 John Scofield John Scofield Jigme Singye Wangchuck in Bhutan Guatemala Maya and Modern November, 1974 Louis De La Haba Joseph J. Scherschel Children of San Juan Atitán The Isles of the Pacific December, 1974 Kenneth P. Emory H. Edward Kim smiling Polynesian woman

1975

+ Title Date Author Photographer Images Exploring the Mind of Ice Age Man January, 1975 Alexander Marshack Alexander Marshack Cave in Niaux, France Brazil's Beleaguered Indians February, 1975 W. Jesco Von Puttkamer W. Jesco Von Puttkamer Amazonian native Woman Hawaii, Island of Fire and Flowers March, 1975 Gordon Young Robert W. Madden Mauna Ulu volcano Diving Amid 'Sleeping' Sharks April, 1975 Eugenie Clark David Doubilet Bull shark with Eugenie Clark Life of a Baboon Troop May, 1975 Shirley C. Strum Timothy W. Ransom Baboons Andalusian, The Spirit of Spain June, 1975 Howard Lafay Joseph J. Scherschel Andalusian woman Benjamin Franklin July, 1975 Alice J. Hall Linda Bartlett Benjamin Franklin The Niger: River of Sorrow, River of Hope August, 1975 Georg Gerster Georg Gerster Nigerian woman Strange World of the Red Sea Reefs September, 1975 Eugenie Clark David Doubilet Moray eels Orangutans October, 1975 Birutė Galdikas-Brindamour Photographer Orangutans with Birutė Galdikas-Brindamour Christopher Columbus and the New World He Found November, 1975 John Scofield Adam Woolfitt Panama woman The Maya: Children of Time December, 1975 Howard La Fay David Alan Harvey Mayan statues

1976

+ Title Date Author Photographer Images Life or Death for the Harp Seal January, 1976 David M. Lavigne William R. Curtsinger baby Harp seal Siberia's Empire Road, The River Ob February, 1976 Robert Paul Jordan Dean Conger Siberian woman At Home with Right Whales March, 1976 Roger Payne Des and Jen Bartlett Southern right whale Irish Ways Live On In Dingle April, 1976 Bryan Hodgson Linda Bartlette Irish boy Truk Lagoon: A Sunken Japanese Fleet Becomes a Scientific Laboratory May, 1976 Sylvia A. Earle Al Giddings Truk Lagoon Kyoto and Nara: Keepers of Japan's Past June, 1976 Charles McCarry George F. Mobley Japanese woman How Are We Using the Land? July, 1976 Peter T. White Jeff Foott Bald eagle Discovered: Monarch's Mexican Haven August, 1976 Frederick A. Urquhart Bianca Lavies Monarch butterflies India Struggles to Save Her Wildlife September, 1976 John K. Putman Stanley Breeden Golden langur The Nation's River October, 1976 Allan C. Fisher, Jr. James L. Stanfield Potomac River at The Washington Monument Robert Redford Rides the Outlaw Trail November, 1976 Robert Redford Jonathan Blair American Cowboy By Square-Rigger From Baltic to Bicentennial December, 1976 Kenneth Garrett Gilbert M. Grosvenor Tall ships

1977

+ Title Date Author Photographer Images Sifting For Life in the Sands if Mars , 1977 Rick Gore NASA Mars surface Longest Manned Balloon Flight February, 1977 Ed Yost Otis Imboden Hot air balloon Egypt: Legacy of a Dazzling Past March, 1977 Alice J. Hall Lee Boltin Gold statue of King tut Pilgrimage to Nepal's Chrystal Mountain April, 1977 Joel F. Ziskin Joel F. Ziskin Nepali woman Wild Nursery of the Mangroves May, 1977 Rick Gore Bianca Lavies Frigatebird in a mangrove Mexico's People of Myth and Magic June, 1977 James Norman Guillermo Aldana E. Huichol art Preserving the Nation's Wild Rivers July, 1977 Not stated Ed Cooper Undine Falls in Yosemite The Air-Safety Challenge August, 1977 Michael E. Long Bruce Dale Lockheed L-1011 TriStar Following the Reindeer with Norway's Lapps September, 1977 Sally Anderson Erik Borg Norwegian Lapp teenage boy Arizona's Suburbs of the Sun October, 1977 David Jeffery H. Edward Kim Field of calendulas Brazil Tames Her Wild Frontier November, 1977 Loren McIntyre Loren McIntyre Jaguar on a tree Reach for the New World December, 1977 Mendel L. Peterson Nathan Benn Sailboat in Newfoundland

1978