National Geographic has its fair share of affecting, enduring covers, like 1985's "Afghan Girl," arguably the publication's most famous image.

For its June 2018 cover and part of its "Planet or Plastic?" initiative, the magazine published a cover that's been widely shared on the internet and described as "dire" and "brilliant."

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Created by Mexican artist Jorge Gamboa, the photo-illustration features a plastic bag partially submerged in the ocean, suggesting that the world's plastic pollution problem is "just the tip of the iceberg."

Gamboa had submitted the artwork, titled Iceberg Plástico, to Bolivia's Biennial of Poster in 2017, where it won first place in the political and social posters category.

Now gracing National Geographic, the artwork is set to become iconic.

wow. In early ‘90s Kathmandu, my biggest annual splurge was buying @NatGeo from 1960s - 1980s with my dashain tika money. They were my first intro to visual story telling and environment journalism. The Dec. 1988 hologram cover felt pretty ultimate.



This 06. 2018 is powerful! https://t.co/P8aqWQGaEG — Kashish Das Shrestha (@kashishds) May 17, 2018

The June 2018 cover of @NatGeo! What a great way to convey the message! pic.twitter.com/nwV91unBEz — Rahul Nanda (@rahulnanda86) May 17, 2018

Brilliant cover. This one will be an icon. Well done, @NatGeo. https://t.co/33nalXJoSG — Gerald Butts 🇨🇦 (@gmbutts) May 16, 2018

National Geographic outdoes itself with this brilliant cover and a dire warning. Planet, or plastic?@NatGeo pic.twitter.com/IifT4xOrL7 — Saikat Datta (@saikatd) May 17, 2018