View allAll Photos Tagged Freezing-Temperatures
This majestic view opens up at the top of the aerial cable gondola system that takes from Chamonix to the Aiguille du Midi, as one steps out into thin air and freezing temperatures at an altitude of 3,800m. But seldom is the weather this crisp and cloudless, letting the eye roam over the farthest peaks of the Mont Blanc massif and beyond.
The next morning we woke to sub-freezing temperatures and a light coating of snow and sleet which had fallen during the night.
The storms were still flying across the canyon and the light was beautiful as it swept across the pillars and thrones. It was slightly more open to the east and the light flooded in from that direction spotlighting the river and the rugged beauty. I usually don't process in black and white but I did on this photograph to try and emphasize the light.
MG_1108
All Nippon Airways Boeing 777 JA795A.
Spotting session at the TWA Hotel in JFK. Feb 14 2020. Cold winter day but with beautiful light. I couldn't feel my feet after a couple of hours of being outside taking pictures during freezing temperatures.
Guemes Channel. Dakota Creek Industries.
F/V Blue North Album: www.flickr.com/photos/-jon/sets/72157649227730729
"At the heart of this program is a unique, low-impact sustainable boat that will be among the most environmentally friendly and technologically advanced fishing vessels in the world. This innovative “green” boat is being specifically developed for the Alaska cod hook-and-line fishery. "
bluenorth.com/home/#/fishing/fishing-vessels
"This longliner is specifically developed for the Alaskan cod fishery and is designed by Skipsteknisk AS in Norway. This new ST 155L design has a moon pool in the center line for one fish to be caught at a time through the internal haul station, which is a first in the United States. The vessel will efficiently utilize proteins onboard- the fish wastage that is commonly ground up and discharged overboard. The internal haul station allows for the release of non-target species, as well as the crew to accomplish their work inside the boat without being exposed to rough seas or freezing temperatures and with no more risk of falling overboard during hauling."
dakotacreek.com/project/fv-blue-north-freezer-longliner-v...
It is called "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. The large footprint prevents it from sinking into the snow when it hops and walks. Its feet also have fur on the soles to protect it from freezing temperatures.
For camouflage, its fur turns white during the winter and rusty brown during the summer. The snowshoe hare is also distinguishable by the black tufts of fur on the edge of its ears. Its ears are shorter than those of most other hares. (Wikipedia)
Flame Princess from Adventure Time
This is the first non self portrait of my project so far. It feels so strange. My beautiful friend Elora braved the freezing temperatures to model for me.
I think I might have my friends model for me in their cosplays soon, I'm excited!
Altoona-Conway local C91 on this day has big power up front, in the form of SD80MAC No. 7211, stretching its train around Horseshoe Curve with spring greenery belying the freezing temperatures and snow flurries on the mountain.
"Caution - Freezing Temperatures Will Damage This Machine". I gotta get that printed on a t-shirt! First snowfall of the season in Ottawa. Carling Avenue. Wednesday December 4 2024.
The whispy cloud wasn't going to stop me doing a massive star trail
tonight. Despite the near freezing temperature, the battery was still
going strong when I stopped the timer after 362 x 30sec exposures (10mm @
f/3.5, ISO3200, SWB). A 3 hour star trail is by far my longest yet.
Icicles formed from water draining from fields splashed against the hedgerow by passing cars in freezing temperatures. Ay Eweford Bridge, Horsleygate, near Dronfield, Derbyshire.
Delta Boeing 737-900 N882DN.
Spotting session at the TWA Hotel in JFK. Feb 14 2020. Cold winter day but with beautiful light. I couldn't feel my feet after a couple of hours of being outside taking pictures during freezing temperatures.
After 5 days of below freezing temperatures.
Warmer days; flic.kr/p/2kJ8CmT
Foreshore Park, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Freezing temperatures, wind, lack of nutritious food............Winter can be long and difficult for Wildlife in Grand Teton National Park, especially the youngsters.
Spotting session at the TWA Hotel in JFK. Feb 14 2020. Cold winter day but with beautiful light. I couldn't feel my feet after a couple of hours of being outside taking pictures during freezing temperatures.
March 28, 2022
An early Spring cold snap gave us one more night of freezing temperatures. The next day was still cold, but warm sunshine melted this ice disk into the stones, shells and driftwood on the deck.
Brewster, Massachusetts
Cape Cod - USA
Photo by brucetopher
© Bruce Christopher 2022
All Rights Reserved
...always learning - critiques welcome.
Tools: Canon 7D & iPhone 11.
No use without permission.
Please email for usage info.
My PRO account will expires very soon!!!!!! OMG!!!!!
It is very cold ... freezing temperature so the snow on Monday still outside, now very icy. I used a pot full of boiling water inside to melt ice in the pond on Monday. Once was not enough. Twice was still not enough. So for the third I actually used full of boiling water directly onto the ice. More than 10cm (4") thickness. OMG! I think I have to repeat it today, but most likely it would be worse...
BBC website says that the current temperature is -2C. It says it will be -5C on Friday. *sigh*
Well friends, it's February 9th and the Almond blossoms in Jerusalem & vicinity are right on schedule. We've had a cold snap with some near to freezing temperatures at night, and the flowers did not seem to mind at all.
The actual blossoms are about 1 to 1-1/4 inches across, and a painting tool was applied to the image.
Hopefully we will remember March of 2013 as the coldest in our lives. Let us pray and hope to make it true and not to have our ancestors suffer from these severe winters. The outmost cold in March in Galicia may be in form of early morning freezing temperature and then snow melting under the bird's accompaniment. This year the birds had hard times singing in the snow. The most troublesome life was experienced by those birds who returned from Africa. Like well-off American retired citizens the are used to stroll between summers, not too hot, not too cold. In 2013 they were dying because of absence of food. People helped them by feeding but still a lot of them fell victims of global warming, they froze in hunger. What a bitter irony.
The city also suffered, nobody was ready for having annual snow quantity in just a day or two. But we survived! Schools were closed twice in 2013 in Ternopil: 2 days in December and then 1 day in March. Such radical measures hadn't been taken for decades! In stead of dirty streets and barely green nature this March we had snow white innocence around!
Our Witch Hazel is doing well in spite of the snow and sub freezing temperatures we had in the city. Not the case with other plants, but the cold will be good for the garden in general as a means to keep diseases and insect pests in check.
Witch Hazel is an early nectar source for pollinators that have limited choices at this time of year.
Portland, Oregon.
... stay tuned and come back RIGHT HERE all this next week!
The photographs of a wonderful friend, Mr.Dharmendra Singh. Mr. Singh will escort us around the beautiful city of Agra. If you can only visit one city in all of India, it should be Agra. When this week is over you'll understand why. Here is the link to Mr. Dharmendra Singh's Flickrsite:
www.flickr.com/photos/33294567@N07/
Agra
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Location of Agra
Country India
State Uttar Pradesh
District(s) Agra
Population
• Density 1,650,000 (2008[update])
• 8,758 /km2 (22,683 /sq mi)
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Area
• Elevation 188.40 km² (73 sq mi)
• 171 m (561 ft)
Coordinates: 27°11′N 78°01′E / 27.18°N 78.02°E / 27.18; 78.02
Agra is a city on the banks of the Yamuna River in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It finds mention in the epic Mahabharata when it was called Agrabana, or Paradise. Tradition and legend ascribe the present city of Raja(around 1475) whose fort, Badalgarh, stood on or near the site of the present Fort. However, the 12th century Persian poet Salman writes of a desperate assault on the fortress of Agra, then held by one King Jaipal, by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni. It was ruled by Sultan Sikandar Lodi in the year 1506. It achieved fame as the capital of the Mughal emperors from 1526 to 1658 and remains a major tourist destination because of its many splendid Mughal-era buildings, most notably the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri, all three of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Geography
Agra is situated on the banks of Yamuna river. It has an average elevation of 171 metres (561 ft). On the north it is bound by Mathura, on the south by Dhaulpur, on the east by Firozabad, on the south-east by Fatehabad and on the west by Bharatpur. Agra is the third biggest city in Uttar Pradesh. The Agra district is divided into Six Tehsils and 15 Blocks. Total number of Nayay Panchayats in the district are 114 while Gram Sabhas stands at 636. The total populated villages are 904. The total number of police stations in the district are 41 out of which 16 are in Urban area and 25 are in Rural area. The total number of Railway Stations (including Halts) are 29 and Bus Stands/Bus Stops are 144. Total number of Broad Gauge lines is 196 K.M. and Meter Gauge is 35 K.M.[citation needed]
Agra, located on the Indo-Gangetic plain has a humid continental climate, with long, hot summers from April to September when temperatures can reach as high as 45 °C (113 °F). During summers dry winds (loo) blow in this region. The monsoon months from July to September see about 69 cm (27 inches) of rainfall annually. Winters last from November to February, with day time temperatures comfortably warm, but temperatures below freezing are not uncommon during the night. Agra is also prone to dense fog during the winter months of December & January.
A major tourist destination, Agra is best visited in the months of October, November, February and March, when the average temperatures are between 16-25 °C (60-75 °F). The monsoon season should be avoided by non-Indians due to the risk of disease and flooding, and the months of April to June due to the extreme heat. The months of December and January are to be avoided due to the dense fog and often freezing temperatures, especially since much of the city has no heating system.
Demographics
As of the 2000 Indian census, Agra had a population of 1,800,000. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Agra has an average literacy rate of 65%, higher than the national average of 63.5%; with 76% males literate. 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. Hindi is spoken by virtually everyone. English & Urdu are also spoken.
History
Agra is a medieval city situated on the banks of the river Yamuna. It is generally accepted that Sultan Sikandar Lodi, the Ruler of Delhi Sultanate founded it in the year 1504. After the sultan's death the city passed on to his son Sultan Ibrahim Lodi. He ruled his Sultanate from Agra until he fell fighting to Babur in the First battle of Panipat fought in 1526.
In the year 1556, the great Hindu warrior, Hemu Vikramaditya also known as Hem Chander Vikramaditya won Agra as Prime Minister cum Chief of Army of Adil Shah of Afgan Sur Dynasty. The commander of Humayun / Akbar's forces in Agra was so scared of Hemu that he ran away from Agra without the fight. This was Hemu's 21st continuous win, who later on won Delhi also and had his coronation at Purana Qila in Delhi and re-established Hindu Kingdom and the Vikramaditya Dynasty in North India.
The golden age of the city began with the Mughals. It was known then as Akbarabad and remained the capital of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan later shifted his capital to Shahjahanabad in the year 1649.
Taj Mahal.Since Akbarabad was one of the most important cities in India under the Mughals, it witnessed a lot of building activity. Babar, the founder of the Mughal dynasty laid out the first formal Persian garden on the banks of river Yamuna. The garden is called the Aram Bagh or the Garden of Relaxation. His grandson Akbar raised the towering ramparts of the Great Red Fort besides making Agra, a center for learning arts, commerce and religion. Akbar also built a new city on the outskirts of Akbarabad called Fatehpur Sikri. This city was built in the form of a Mughal military camp in stone.
His son Jahangir had a love of gardens and flora and fauna and laid many gardens inside the Red Fort or Laal Kila. Shah Jahan known for his keen interest in architecture gave Akbarabad its most prized monument, The Taj Mahal. Built in loving memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, the mausoleum was completed in 1653.
Shah Jahan later shifted the capital to Delhi during his reign, but this son Aurangzeb shifted the capital back to Akbarabad and had his father imprisoned in the Fort there. Akbarabad remained capital of India during the rule of Aurangzeb until he shifted it to Aurangabad in the Deccan in 1653. After the decline of the Mughal Empire, the city came under the influence of Marathas and Jats and was called Agra, before falling into the hands of the British Raj in 1803.
Agra, Main Street, c.1858In 1835 when the Presidency of Agra was established by the British, the city became the seat of government, and just two year later it was the witness to the Agra famine of 1837–38. During the Indian rebellion of 1857 British rule across India was threatened, news of the rebellion had reached Agra on 11 May and on the 30th of May two companies of native infantry, the 44th and 67th regiments, rebelled and marched to Delhi. The next morning native Indian troops in Agra were forced to disarm, on 15 June Gwalior (which lies south of Agra) rebelled. By 3 July the British were forced to withdraw into the fort. Two days later a small British force at Sucheta were defeated and force to withdraw, this lead to a mob sacking the city. However the rebels moved onto Delhi which allowed the British to restore order by the 8th of July. Delhi fell to the British in September, the following month rebels who had fled Delhi along with rebels from Central India marched on Agra - but were defeated. After this British rule was again secured over the city until the independence of India in 1947.
Agra is the birth place of religion Din-i-Ilahi, which flourished during the reign of Akbar and also of the Radhaswami Faith, which has around two million followers worldwide.
Transportation
Getting In
By Air
Agra Airport at Kheria is about 6 km from the city centre, but is not very well connected. Now one can catch connecting flights to Agra via delhi or jaipur from most of the major cities of India. Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is the best option. Agra is very well connected to Delhi both by rail and road.
By Rail
Main Article : Railways in Agra
Agra is on the main train line between Delhi (Station Code : NDLS) and Mumbai (Bombay) (Station Code : CSTM) and between Delhi and Chennai (Station Code : MAS) and many trains connect Agra with these cities every day. Some east-bound trains from Delhi also travel via Agra, so direct connections to points in Eastern India (including Kolkata) (Calcutta) are also available. There are close to 20 trains to Delhi every day, and at least three or four to both Mumbai and Chennai. There are three stations in Agra:
Agra Cantt (Station Code : AGC) is the main railway station and lies southwest of the Taj and Agra Fort, both of which are a short ride from the station by car, auto-rickshaw, or cycle rickshaw. There's a prepaid taxi stand right outside that charges a flat Rs.120 to any hotel in the city. The station has a pretty good Comesum food court that also sells cheap, hygienic takeaway snacks (sandwiches, samosas, etc).
Agra Fort Railway Station (Station Code : AF) near Agra Fort, is infrequently serviced by the interstate express trains. The station serves trains to the east (Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Kolkata, Guwahati) some of these trains also stop at Agra Cantt.
Raja Ki Mandi (Station Code : RKM) is a small station. Some of the train which stop at Agra Cantt also stop here. Its a very laid back station and springs into life at the arrival of Intercity Express and Taj Express.
The luxury trains - Palace on Wheels, ROYAL RAJASTHAN ON WHEELS also stop at Agra on their eight day round trip of tourist destinations in Rajasthan and Agra.
A special train BUDDHIST SPECIAL TRAIN ALSO GOES TO AGRA
By Road
Idgah Bus Stand is the biggest Bus Stand in Agra and is connected to most of the bigger cities in North India.
From Delhi: NH2, a modern divided highway, connects the 200 km distance from Delhi to Agra. The drive is about 4 hours. The primary access to the highway is along Mathura Road in Delhi but, if coming from South Delhi or Delhi Airport, it is easier to take Aurobindo Marg (Mehrauli Road) and then work up to NH2 via Tughlakabad.
From Jaipur: National Highway 11, a two lane undivided highway, connects Agra with Jaipur via the bird sanctuary town of Bharatpur. The distance of around 255 km can be covered in around 4-5 hours.
From Gwalior A distance of around 120 km, takes around 1.5 hours on the National highway 3, also known as the Agra - Mumbai Highway.
From Lucknow / Kanpur NH2, the divided modern highway, continues on to Kanpur (285 km, 5 hours) and from there to points East ending in Kolkata. From Kanpur, NH25 heads for the city of Lucknow (90 km, 2 hours).
Local Transportation
Auto rickshaw and Cycle Rickshaw are the main mode of transport in Agra and are available very readily. The Rickshaw are not metered so its best to negotiate the fares before the ride.
City Buses are there but they frequency is very low.
Polluting vehicles are not allowed near Taj Mahal, so one needs to take electric Auto's or Tanga (Tonga) from few KM outside Taj Mahal.
Places of Interest
Taj Mahal from Agra fort.
[edit] Taj Mahal
Main article: Taj Mahal
The Taj MahalAgra's Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world, the mausoleum of Shah Jahan's favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It is one of the New 7 Wonders of the world, and one of three World Heritage Sites in Agra, the others being Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri.
Completed in 1653 CE., the Taj Mahal is believed to have been built by the Mughal Badshah (king) Shah Jahan as the final resting place for his beloved wife, Mumtaz. Finished in marble, it is perhaps India's most fascinating and beautiful monument. This perfectly symmetrical monument took 22 years (1630-1652) of hard labour and 20,000 workers, masons and jewellers to build and is set amidst landscaped gardens. Built by the Persian architect, Ustad Isa, the Taj Mahal is on the bank of the Yamuna River. It can be observed like a mirage from the Agra Fort from where Emperor Shah Jahan stared at it, for the last eight years his life as a prisoner of his son Aurangzeb. It is a masterpiece of symmetry, seeming to be floating in the air from a distance, and each revealed as an illusion experienced as one enters through the main gate. Verses of the Koran are inscribed on it and at the top of gate 22 small domes, signifying the number of years the monument took to build. The Taj Mahal was built on a marble platform that stands above a sandstone one. The most elegant dome of the Taj, with a diameter of 60 feet (18 m), rises 80 feet (24 m) over the building and directly under the dome is the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan's tomb was erected next to hers by his son Aurangzeb. Fantastic inlay works using semi-precious stones decorate the interiors.
Opening Times: sunrise to sunset (closed Fridays)
Agra Fort
Amar Singh Gate,
one of two entrances into Agra's Red FortAnother world heritage site in Agra. Agra's dominant structure,purushotam the Agra Fort (sometimes called the Red Fort), was built by Akbar in 1565. Be Noted that a Stone Plate located at the Gate of Fort describes it to be built before 1000 and later renovated by Akbar. The red sandstone fort was renovated and converted into a palace during Shah Jahan's time, and reworked extensively with marble and pietra dura inlay. Notable buildings in the fort include the Pearl Mosque, the Diwan-e-Am and Diwan-e-Khas (halls of public and private audience), Jehangir's Palace, Khaas Mahal, Sheesh Mahal (mirrored palace), and Musamman Burj.
The great Mughal Emperor Akbar commissioned the construction of the Agra Fort in 1565 CE., although additions were made till the time of his grandson Shah Jahan. The forbidding exteriors of this fort hide an inner paradise. The fort is crescent shaped, flattened on the east with a long, nearly straight wall facing the river. It has a total perimeter of 2.4 k.m., and is ringed by double castellated ramparts of red sandstone punctuated at regular intervals by bastions. A 9 mt. wide and 10 mt. deep moat surround the outer wall.
Shivaji visited Agra fort as per the "Purandar Treaty" entered into with Mirza Raja Jaisingh to met Aurangzeb in the Diwan-i-khas. In the audience he was deliberately placed behind men of lower rank. Insulted Shivaji stormed out of the imperial audience and was confined to Jai Sing's quarters on 12 May 1666. Fearing the dungeons and execution, in a famously sweet legend, he escaped on the 17th of August 1666. A heroic equestrian statue of Shivaji has been erected outside the fort.
The fort standing as a typical example of the Mughal architecture.It shows how the North Indian style of fort construction differentiated from that of the South.In South majority of the beautiful forts were built on the sea beds like the one at Bekal in Kerala [for more details refer 'History of Bekal Fort' by Nandakumar Koroth]
Fatehpur Sikri
Diwan-i-Khas – Hall of Private AudienceThe Mughal Emperor Akbar built Fatehpur Sikri about 35 km from Agra, and moved his capital there. Later abandoned, the site displays a number of buildings of significant historical importance. A World Heritage Site, it is often visited by tourists to Agra. The name of the place came after Mughal Emperor Babur defeated Rana Sanga in a battle at a place called Sikri (about 40 km from Agra). Then Mughal Emperor Akbar wanted to make Fatehpur Sikri his head quarters. So he built this majestic fort. But due to shortage of water he had to ultimately move his headquarters to Agra Fort.
Buland Darwaza or the loft gateway was built by the great Mughal emperor, Akbar in 1601 CE. at Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar built the Buland Darwaza to commemorate his victory over Gujarat. The Buland Darwaza is approached by 42 steps. The Buland Darwaza is 53.63 m high and 35 meters wide. Buland Darwaza is the highest gateway in the world and an astounding example of the Mughal architecture. The Buland Darwaza or the magnificence gateway is made of red and buff sandstone, decorated by carving and inlaying of white and black marble. An inscription on the central face of the Buland Darwaza throws light on Akbar's religious broad mindedness, here is an inscription one on the monument which is a message from Jesus advising his followers not to consider this world as their permanent home.
Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb
The 'Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb at Agra'Empress Nur Jehan built Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb, sometimes called the Baby Taj, for her father, Ghias-ud-Din Beg, the Chief Minister of Emperor Jahangir. Located on the left bank of the Yamuna river, the mausoleum is set in a large cruciform garden criss-crossed by water courses and walkways. The mausoleum itself is set on a base about 50 meters square and about 1 meter high. The mausoleum is about 23 meters square. On each corner are hexagonal towers, about 13 meters tall. Small in comparison to many other Mughal-era tombs, it is sometimes described as a jewel box. Its garden layout and use of white marble, pietra dura, inlay designs and latticework presage many elements of the Taj Mahal.
The walls are white marble from Rajasthan encrusted with semi-precious stone decorations - cornelian, jasper, lapis lazuli, onyx, and topaz in images of cypress trees and wine bottles, or more elaborate decorations like cut fruit or vases containing bouquets. Light to the interior passes through delicate jali screens of intricately carved white marble.
Many of Nur Jahan's relatives are interred in the mausoleum. The only asymmetrical element of the entire complex is that the cenotaphs of her father and mother have been set side-by-side, a formation replicated in the Taj Mahal
Tomb of Akbar the Great
Tomb of Akbar the GreatSikandra, the last resting place of the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great, is on Delhi-Agra Highway, is only 13 kilometres from the Agra Fort. Akbar's tomb reflects the completeness of his personality. The vast, beautifully carved, red-ochre sandstone tomb with deers, rabbits and Langoor is set amidst a lush garden. Akbar himself planned his own tomb and selected a suitable site for it. To construct a tomb in one's lifetime was a Tartary custom which the Mughals followed religiously. Akbar's son Jahangir completed the construction of this pyramidal tomb in 1613. The names of Gods of 99 religious sects have been inscribed on Akbar's Tomb.
Swami Bagh Samadhi
The Swami Bagh Samadhi is the mausoleum of Huzur Swamiji Maharaj (Shri Shiv Dayal Singh Seth) in the Swamibagh section, on Bhagwan Talkies to Dayal bagh road, in the outskirts of the city. He was the founder of the Radhaswami Faith and the Samadhi is sacred to its followers. Construction began in February 1904 and still continues. It is believed that the construction will never end at Swami Bagh. It is often seen as the "next Taj Mahal". The carvings in stone, using a combination or coloured marble, is life-like and not seen anywhere else in India. The picture shown is taken from the backside and shows only two floors. When completed, the samadhi will have a carved dome and a gateway.
Mankameshwar Temple
MankaMeswar Temple is one of the four ancient temples dedicated to Lord Shiva that are located on the four corners of Agra City. It is located in the near the Jama Masjid and is about 2.5 kilometers from Taj Mahal and about less than 1 km from Agra Fort. Being located in the old city, the temple is surrounded by Mughal-era markets, some of which date back to the early days of Mughal rule in India.
Guru ka Tal
Guru ka Tal was originally a reservoir meant to collect and conserve rainwater built in Agra, near Sikandra, during Jehangir's reign next to the Tomb of Itibar Khan Khwajasara in 1610. In 1970s a gurudwara was erected here. Guru ka Tal is a holy place of worship for the Sikh. Four of the 10 Sikh gurus are said to have paid it a visit. Enjoying both historical and religious importance, this gurudwara attracts number of devotees and tourists. Boasting elaborate stone carvings and 8 towers of the 12 original towers, this gurudwara beckons travelers from far and away to bask in its glory.It is established at national(Delhi-Agra)highway-2. Akbar Tomb is 2 kilometer far from Guru Ka Tal.
Jama Masjid (Agra)
The Jama Masjid is a large mosque attributed to Shah Jahan's daughter, Princess Jahanara Begum, built in 1648, notable for its unusual dome and absence of minarets. The inscription at its entrance shows that it costed Rs 5 Lakhs at that time for its completion
Chini Ka Rauza
Notable for its Persian influenced dome of blue glazed tiles, the Chini Ka Rauza is dedicated to the Prime Minister of Shah Jahan, Allama Afzel Khal Mullah Shukrullah of Shiraz.
Ram Bagh
The oldest Mughal garden in India, the Ram Bagh was built by the Emperor Babur in 1528 on Yamuna's bank. It lies about 2.34 km north of Taj Mahal. The pavilions in this garden are designed in such a manner that the wind from the Yamuna, combined with the greenery, keeps these pavilions cool even during the peak of summer. Aram Bagh is also incorrectly called Ram Bagh by the locals. It was the place where Mughal emperor Babar used to spend his liesure time and at the same place he died and his body was kept here for sometime before sending it to Kabul
Mariams Tomb
Mariams Tomb, is the tomb of Mariam, the wife of great Mughal Emperor Akbar. The tomb is within the compound of Christian Missionary Society.
Mehtab Bagh
Mehtab Bagh, is on the opposite bank of River Yamuna on which the Taj is present.
Keetham Lake
Also known as Sur Sarovar, the Keetham Lake is situated at about 23 kilometres from Agra within the Surdas Reserved Forest. The lake has an impressive variety of aquatic life and water birds. The tranquil surroundings present an ideal relaxing place.
Mughal Heritage Walk
Mughal Heritage Walk is a 1km loop which connects the agricultural fields with the Rajasthani culture, river bank connected with the ancient village of Kuchhpura, the Heritage Structure of Mehtab Bagh, the Mughal aqueduct system, the Humanyun Mosque and the Gyarah Sidi.
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Agra.
Mughal Emperor Akbar's Tomb, near Agra, India.
Soami Bagh Samadh, in Dayalbagh.
Panch Mahal in Fatehpur Sikri.
World Heritage Sites Taj Mahal · Agra Fort · Fatehpur Sikri
Mughal architecture Sikandra · Itmad-Ud-Daulah · Chini Ka Rauza · Mariams Tomb
Masjids Jama Masjid · Moti Masjid
Other Religious places Swamibagh · Mankameshwar Temple · Guru ka Tal · Bateshwar
Shopping Sadar Bazaar · Sanjay Place · Raja ki mandi · Loha Mandi
Gardens Ram Bagh · Mehtab Bagh · Paliwal Park
Wildlife Sanctuaries National Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary · Keetham Lake · Patna Bird Sanctuary
Fairs Taj Mahotsav · Ram Barat
Economy
A shopping mall situated on the Fatehabad Road in Agra, U.P.Tourism contributes to a large extent in the economy of Agra. Agra has some of the finest Hotels & Spa's in India. Agra is home to Asia’s largest spa called Kaya Kalp — The Royal Spa, at Hotel Mughal in Agra.
The city also has a substantial industrial base. A lot of manufacturing plants and industry related wholesale markets are prominent in Agra. Agra's industries are doing a fine job in various fields. Producers and dealers of Agra have a vast market to support them.
Agra has a good number of apparel and garment manufacturers and exporters. Agra has also an important market for the automobile industry. Anil Diesels, Harvest Group of Industries, Indian Agriculture & Automobile Corporation(IAAC) and Malloys India are some of the major players of the automobile industry in Agra.
The Sadar Bazar market in the Agra Cantonment
An Agra craftsman working with marble stone inlays. The marble is colored red to give contrast while working.Over 7200 Small Scale Industrial Units are spared all over the district. Agra city is famous for the Leather Goods, Handicrafts, Zari Zardozi, Marvel and Stone carving & inlay work. Agra is also welknown for its sweets (Petha & Gajak) and Snacks (Dalmoth)
The leather industry is among the most traditional and original industries of Agra. Some of the leading manufacturers, exporter and sellers of leather in Agra are Polyplast Industries, Royal International, Eskay Sales Corporation, Best Buy, Bandejjia Traders and Expomore.[citation needed]
With the expansion of the Agra city, more and more construction works are going around the city. To facilitate the flow of work, a lot of organizations dealing in building materials have come up. A few leading names are Silver Gatta Agency, Yashoda Exports, Glass Expressions and Sharda Enterprises. The jeweleries of Agra is a great favorite with the tourists and is in good demand in the international market also. The Yoga Handicrafts and the D.R.Chain and Wire Manufacturing Company are two of the several important names of the related industry.
Education
Agra has always been a centre for education and learning. It was during the advent of Mughal era that Agra grew as a centre of Islamic education. In the coming decades Agra saw great literary figures come from the city. Abul Fazl and others were among the pioneers. The Urdu literature grew by leaps and bounds in the city. Mir Taqi "Mir" and Mirza Asadullah Beg "Ghalib" were the icons produced by the city.
Britishers introduced the western concept of education in Agra. In the year 1823, Agra College, one of the oldest colleges in India was formed out of a Sanskrit school established by the Scindia rulers.
In the British era, Agra became a great center of Hindi literature with people like Babu Gulab Rai at the helm.
University
Agra University [2] was established on 1 July 1927 and catered to colleges spread across the United Provinces, the Rajputana, the Central Provinces and almost to entire North India, at present around 142 Colleges are affiliated to this University. The historic Agra University was later rechristened as Dr. BhimRao Ambedkar University by the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Ms. Mayawati.
Dayalbagh Educational Institute [3]. Radhasoami Satsang Sabha, started the Radhasoami Educational Institute, as a co-educational Middle School, open to all, on January 1, 1917. It became a Degree College in 1947, affiliated to Agra University. In 1975, it formulated an innovative and comprehensive programme of undergraduate studies which received approbation from the Government of Uttar Pradesh and the University Grants Commission, as a result of which in 1981 the Ministry of Education, Government of India, conferred the status of an institution deemed to be a University on the Dayalbagh Educational Institute, to implement the new scheme.
Central Institute of Hindi [4]. Central Institute of Hindi (also known as Kendriya Hindi Sansthan) is an autonomous institute under Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India engaged in teaching Hindi as a foreign and second language. Apart from running regular and residential Hindi language courses for foreign students, the institute also conducts regular training programmes for teachers of Hindi belonging to non-Hindi states of India.The institute is situated at a 11 acres campus on the outskirts of Agra city. Headquartered in Agra the institute has eight regional centers in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mysore, Shillong, Dimapur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Bhubneshwar. The institute is the only government run institution in India established solely for research and teaching of Hindi as a foreign and second language.
College
Agra is also home to some of the oldest and renowned colleges
The Institute of Engineering & Technology Khandari, Agra (I.E.T. Khandari, Agra), is the prestigious and renowned engineering institute of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, Agra (formerly Agra University), situated at Khandari, Agra in Uttar Pradesh [1] [2].
Sarojini Naidu Medical College [5], Agra, named after the first lady Governess of Uttar Pradesh, poetess and freedom fighter, Bharat Kokila Smt. Sarojini Naidu, is one of the first three Medical Schools of the country. During year 2004-2005, S. N. Medical College & Hospital is celebrating its 150th Foundation year (1854-2004)
St. John's College, Agra [6], was established in 1850 by the Church Missionary Society of England through the efforts of the Agra C. M. S. Association which came into being in 1840. Shankar Dayal Sharma, the 9th President of India received his education from St. John's college.
F.E.T Agra College,Agra [7] Carrying the legacy of Agra College and Agra University, Faculty of Engineering and technology came into existence in the Year 2000, the college which is nearly 9 years old can boast of strong alumni base which is spread all across the world.
RBSCollege,Agra [8] RBS College is one of the biggest college of ASIA , It has a prestegious history and was started by AWAGARH Kingdom.This college is having the largest campus area and maximum number of education branches.
School
Britishers also introduced English medium schools to the city known as convent schools as they were attached to a church. Some of the prominent school are
Air Force School, Kheria, Agra.
Army School Agra Cantt.
RBS Inter College, Khandari, Agra
N. C. V. Inter college, Agra Cantt.
St. Peter's College, Agra [9], built in 1846, is in fact one of the oldest of its kind in the country.
Sumeet Rahul Goel Memorial Senior Secondary School, Kamla Nagar, Agra
St. Patrick's Junior College, Agra [Built in 1842, 1st Convent of Jesus and Mary in Asia, and IInd in the world]
St. Conrad's Inter College, Transport Nagar
St. George's College, Hariparvat
ROYAL PUBLIC SCHOOL, Transyamuna, NH-2, Agra
St. Andrew's Senior Secondary School, karmayogi Enclave
DPS , Shastripuram[10]
St. Clare's Senior Secondary School[11]
St. Francis Convent School, Wazirpura Road, Agra
B.R.B. Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Runakta, Agra
St.Paul's Church College, bagh farzana agra
Wellam Garden School, Nehru Enclave, Shaheed Nagar
Saraswati Vidhya Mandir, Vijay Nagar, Agra
Saraswati Vidhya Mandir, Kamla Nagar, Agra
INDRABHAN G. INTER COLLEGE, DARESI NO. 2, Agra
Mahavir Digember Jain Inter College Agra
After weeks of below freezing temperatures, even big rivers are frozen in the Yukon. Yet, here on a very warm sunny day only a few degrees below freezing, I find a pond with open water and steam rising from its surface. I can't help but wonder if there is some geothermal heating going on. In any event, with the sun just kissing the horizon, it was a beautiful scene to behold.
I didn't have the energy to walk over to the lake today in freezing temperatures, so I resorted to using an older reminder of how beautiful and challenging Chicago winters can be.
Euromaidan (Ukrainian: ??????????, Yevromaidan, literally "Eurosquare") is a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on the night of 21 November 2013 with public protests demanding closer European integration and culminated in a coup d'etat of the reigning Ukrainian government. The scope of the protests expanded, with many calls for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych and his government. Many protesters joined because of the violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November and "a will to change life in Ukraine". By 25 January 2014, the protests had been fueled by the perception of "widespread government corruption", "abuse of power", and "violation of human rights in Ukraine".
The demonstrations began on the night of 21 November 2013, when protests erupted in the capital, Kiev, after the Ukrainian government suspended preparations for signing an Association Agreement and a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, in order to seek closer economic relations with Russia. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov had asked for 20 Billion Euros (US$27) billion in loans and aid. The EU and Russia both offered Ukraine the possibility of substantial loans. Russia also offered Ukraine cheaper gas prices. On 24 November 2013, first clashes between protesters and police began. Protesters strived to break cordon. Police used tear gas and batons, protesters also used tear gas and some fire crackers (according to the police, protesters were the first to use them). After a few days of demonstrations an increasing number of university students joined the protests. The Euromaidan has been repeatedly characterised as an event of major political symbolism for the European Union itself, particularly as
"the largest ever pro-European rally in history".
The protests are ongoing despite heavy police presence, regularly sub-freezing temperatures, and snow. Escalating violence from government forces in the early morning of 30 November caused the level of protests to rise, with 400,000–800,000 protesters demonstrating in Kiev on the weekends of 1 December and 8 December. In the weeks since, protest attendance has fluctuated from 50,000 to 200,000 during organised rallies. Violent riots took place 1 December and 19 January through 25 in response to police brutality and government repression. Since 23 January several Western Ukrainian Oblast (province) Governor buildings and regional councils have been occupied in a revolt by Euromaidan activists. In the Russophone cities of Zaporizhzhya, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk, protesters also tried to take over their local government building, and have been met with considerable force from both police and government supporters.
According to journalist Lecia Bushak writing in the 18 February 2014 issue of Newsweek magazine, EuroMaidan has grown into something far bigger than just an angry response to the fallen-through EU deal. It's now about ousting Yanukovych and his corrupt government; guiding Ukraine away from its 200-year-long, deeply intertwined and painful relationship with Russia; and standing up for basic human rights to protest, speak and think freely and to act peacefully without the threat of punishment.
A turning point came in late-February, when enough members of the president's party fled or defected to lose their majority in the parliament leaving the opposition large enough to form the necessary quorum. This allowed parliament to pass a series of laws that removed police from Kiev, canceled anti-protest operations, restored the 2004 constitution, freed political detainees, and allegedly impeached the president. Yanukovych then fled to Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv, refusing to recognise the parliament's decisions. The parliament has assigned early elections for May 2014.
A 35 man (plus guides) trip to the Ukraine exploring Chernobyl, the village, Duga 3, Pripyat and Kiev including Maidan (Independence Square) and observing the peaceful protests underway.
Some new faces, some old, made new friends and generally we were in our elements.
Rhetorical question but did we have a blast? You bet!
Amazing group, top guys. Till the next time!
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timster1973.wordpress.com
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The weatherman said we experienced "rime frost" this morning with the fog in the sub-freezing temperatures. I have looked at pics of "hoar frost" vs. "rime frost" and, ok, if he says it was rime, then it was rime...
It was about 15-20 degrees (F) when I took this.
2015. DCI, Guemes Channel.
"At the heart of this program is a unique, low-impact sustainable boat that will be among the most environmentally friendly and technologically advanced fishing vessels in the world. This innovative “green” boat is being specifically developed for the Alaska cod hook-and-line fishery. "
bluenorth.com/home/#/fishing/fishing-vessels
"This longliner is specifically developed for the Alaskan cod fishery and is designed by Skipsteknisk AS in Norway. This new ST 155L design has a moon pool in the center line for one fish to be caught at a time through the internal haul station, which is a first in the United States. The vessel will efficiently utilize proteins onboard- the fish wastage that is commonly ground up and discharged overboard. The internal haul station allows for the release of non-target species, as well as the crew to accomplish their work inside the boat without being exposed to rough seas or freezing temperatures and with no more risk of falling overboard during hauling."
dakotacreek.com/project/fv-blue-north-freezer-longliner-v...
Hair Ice formed, as the fungi is pressed out of the wood, at freezing temperatures.
December 2022.
Rønshoved, Stenderup Nørreskov, Kolding, Denmark.
This photo was taken along the riverfront a couple days ago and the plant was still thriving. After last night's freezing temperatures and slight snowfall I fear that its end is near.
News crew reporting on the potential flooding of the Mohawk River due to ice jams and above-freezing temperatures. Riverside Park, Schenectady, New York.
My peonies are starting their rise, although I thought they might be damaged by this week's snow and freezing temperatures. Fortunately, they appear to have suffered no damage.
"White Knuckle Driving" the ice covered Highway 99 Sea-to-Sky between Vancouver and Squamish Canada. An overnight snowstorm, lack of plowing, cars compacting the snow and freezing temperatures results in is a one-inch thick sheet of ice covering the tire tracks. Traffic is moving at 20km/h pace many cars that tried to go faster to get to Whistler wound up in the ditch some were crashed upside down. If you stopped at all you would have difficulty getting going again without 4x4 or tire chains. If you got out you could push your car sideways with one hand that's how slick it was!!!
Trichocera hiemalis (Trichoceridae)
Wintermücke
Die kleine, zierliche Art ist sehr kältetolerant und bis zum Gefrierpunkt aktiv dank eines natürlichen, Glyzerin-ähnlichen „Kälteschutzmittels“ als Blutbestandteil. Und gut zu wissen, sie haben kein Interesse an menschlichem oder anderem Blut, ihre Ernährungsweise ist wohl weitgehend unbekannt.
Stativ, Fokusschiene, Reynox 250, Stack aus 91 Einzelbildern
winter midge, winter cranefly
This small, diminutive species ist very cold-tolerant and active till down to the freezing temperature due to a glycerin-similar cyroprotectant blood component. And good to know, they are not interested in human or other blood, their feeding habit is widely unknown.
tripod, focus rail, Reynox 250, stack of 91 images
British Airways Boeing 747 G-CIVX.
Spotting session at the TWA Hotel in JFK. Feb 14 2020. Cold winter day but with beautiful light. I couldn't feel my feet after a couple of hours of being outside taking pictures during freezing temperatures.
Hoar Frost (also called radiation frost or hoarfrost or pruina) refers to the white ice crystals, loosely deposited on the ground or exposed objects, that form on cold clear nights when heat is lost into the open sky causing objects to become colder than the surrounding air. A related effect is flood frost or frost pocket which occurs when air cooled by ground-level radiation losses travels downhill to form pockets of very cold air in depressions, valleys, and hollows. Hoar Frost can form in these areas even when the air temperature a few feet above ground is well above freezing. Nonetheless the frost itself will be at or below the freezing temperature of water.
Hoar Frost may have different names depending on where it forms. For example, air hoar is a deposit of hoar frost on objects above the surface, such as tree branches, plant stems, wires; surface hoar is formed by fern-like ice crystals directly deposited on snow, ice or already frozen surfaces; crevasse hoar consists of crystals that form in glacial crevasses where water vapor can accumulate under calm weather conditions; depth hoar refers to cup shaped, faceted crystals formed within dry snow, beneath the surface.
Full set (so far) here - www.flickr.com/photos/timster1973/sets/72157643948151514/
Euromaidan (Yevromaidan, literally "Eurosquare") is a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on the night of 21 November 2013 with public protests demanding closer European integration and culminated in a coup d'etat of the reigning Ukrainian government. The scope of the protests expanded, with many calls for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych and his government. Many protesters joined because of the violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November and "a will to change life in Ukraine". By 25 January 2014, the protests had been fueled by the perception of "widespread government corruption", "abuse of power", and "violation of human rights in Ukraine".
The demonstrations began on the night of 21 November 2013, when protests erupted in the capital, Kiev, after the Ukrainian government suspended preparations for signing an Association Agreement and a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, in order to seek closer economic relations with Russia. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov had asked for 20 Billion Euros (US$27) billion in loans and aid. The EU and Russia both offered Ukraine the possibility of substantial loans. Russia also offered Ukraine cheaper gas prices. On 24 November 2013, first clashes between protesters and police began. Protesters strived to break cordon. Police used tear gas and batons, protesters also used tear gas and some fire crackers (according to the police, protesters were the first to use them). After a few days of demonstrations an increasing number of university students joined the protests. The Euromaidan has been repeatedly characterised as an event of major political symbolism for the European Union itself, particularly as
"the largest ever pro-European rally in history".
The protests are ongoing despite heavy police presence, regularly sub-freezing temperatures, and snow. Escalating violence from government forces in the early morning of 30 November caused the level of protests to rise, with 400,000–800,000 protesters demonstrating in Kiev on the weekends of 1 December and 8 December. In the weeks since, protest attendance has fluctuated from 50,000 to 200,000 during organised rallies. Violent riots took place 1 December and 19 January through 25 in response to police brutality and government repression. Since 23 January several Western Ukrainian Oblast (province) Governor buildings and regional councils have been occupied in a revolt by Euromaidan activists. In the Russophone cities of Zaporizhzhya, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk, protesters also tried to take over their local government building, and have been met with considerable force from both police and government supporters.
According to journalist Lecia Bushak writing in the 18 February 2014 issue of Newsweek magazine, EuroMaidan has grown into something far bigger than just an angry response to the fallen-through EU deal. It's now about ousting Yanukovych and his corrupt government; guiding Ukraine away from its 200-year-long, deeply intertwined and painful relationship with Russia; and standing up for basic human rights to protest, speak and think freely and to act peacefully without the threat of punishment.
A turning point came in late-February, when enough members of the president's party fled or defected to lose their majority in the parliament leaving the opposition large enough to form the necessary quorum. This allowed parliament to pass a series of laws that removed police from Kiev, canceled anti-protest operations, restored the 2004 constitution, freed political detainees, and allegedly impeached the president. Yanukovych then fled to Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv, refusing to recognise the parliament's decisions. The parliament has assigned early elections for May 2014.
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Senior Airman Robert Wodowski, defender with the Michigan National Guard's 127th Security Forces Squadron, secures a KC-135 Stratotanker on the flight line today, This weekend, Woodowski and other personnel of the 127th Wing will continue to endure harsh weather conditions as a significant winter storm commences upon the metropolitan Detroit region. Local weather reports estimate snowfall to accumulate up-to one-foot and sub-freezing temperatures for the next few days. Selfridge Air National Guard Base personnel remain ready for any prescribed contingency and a blizzard during Michigan's winter season provides an opportunity to practice resiliency and readiness while dealing with a well-known, yet hard-to-predict adversary: Mother Nature. (Photo by Terry Atwell)
Draining in below freezing temperatures without waders isn't so bad once you lose the feeling in your feet.
JetBlue Embraer 190 N294JB.
Spotting session at the TWA Hotel in JFK. Feb 14 2020. Cold winter day but with beautiful light. I couldn't feel my feet after a couple of hours of being outside taking pictures during freezing temperatures.
Polaroid Land Camera Automatik 320 und Fujifilm FP3000B
Frostige Temperaturen und starke Sonneneinstrahlung von links, so dass mangels Streulichtblende (gibt's sowas für die alten Faltenbälge?) wohl so eine Art Flares entstanden sind. Die Bilder sind keine Meilensteine der Fotografie, wohl aber schöne (und unperfekte) Zeugnisse einer fast vergessenen Technik dieser Kamera von 1968.
Frosty weather with freezing temperatures and a low sun shining into the lens (are there sun visors for such old cameras from 1968?) made the shooting with the Peel Apart Polaroid not easy. Perhaps the Flares along side the pictures emerged of it. The photos are no milestones of photography, but a beautiful reminder of analog times of the Sixties.
We're here are visiting the hobby group today. Big thing for me is that I live, breath, talk, and eat (if that's possible) football. Although I've taken on board many US terms, I can't/won't switch to soccer so when I say football I mean that sport where you kick a ball with your foot, not the one over here where you predominantly carry & throw the ball despite it being called "foot"ball :-)
Anyway, the weather is really restricting participating in this hobby right now. Just need the sun to thaw this stuff as we don't mind playing in the sub-freezing temperatures, we just like to see grass or turf while we play!!!
Frost crystals develop when moisture in the air deposits on surfaces colder than the dew point (called, unsurprisingly, the frost point when it is below the freezing temperature). Since the water preferentially gathers at points where it fits into the growing crystal lattice as well as where it can easily diffuse, an emergent structure develops.
In sub-freezing temperatures, frolicking around an icy creek can be more fun than sitting in front of the fireplace sipping hot chocolate.
...well, sometimes?
Rock Creek Park
Harford County, Maryland
January 20, 2016
"When a woman is talking to you, listen to what she says with her eyes."
- Victor Hugo
************************
This picture (shot in February) is #3 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
For my other pictures on this project: www.flickr.com/photos/vijaybrittophotography/sets/7215764...
This is Jen, another “stranger” from my gym who stood out as a great candidate for a portrait due to her amazing eyes (yes “eyes” seems to be a recurring theme in my project).
I took a chance asking this beautiful lady for a quick 10 minute portrait and she agreed. She not only obliged but braved the biting cold in February to shoot outside the gym and doing her best to not let it show in the pictures (this is a example from that session in freezing temperatures). The soft light is due to shooting in a covered passage outside the gym facing outwards and by light reflecting of the snow covered ground. Her scarf was used to accentuate her beautiful eyes which were complemented by a lovely skin tone and a visible poise that I later learned was based on her passion for dance.
Eyes can definitely speak, which Jennifer (and in fact Ariel and Carol before her) are great examples of.
I have been lucky to have an opportunity to shoot with Jen again where despite the howling cold wind, she went through it with a smile even though she barely knew me.
Thank you Jen for being a part of the project!!
Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka Valley and most of Saline Valley. The park occupies an interface zone between the arid Great Basin and Mojave deserts, protecting the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and its diverse environment of salt-flats, sand dunes, badlands, valleys, canyons and mountains. Death Valley is the largest national park in the contiguous United States, as well as the hottest, driest and lowest of all the national parks in the United States. It contains Badwater Basin, the second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere and lowest in North America at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. More than 93% of the park is a designated wilderness area. The park is home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh desert environment including creosote bush, Joshua tree, bighorn sheep, coyote, and the endangered Death Valley pupfish, a survivor from much wetter times. UNESCO included Death Valley as the principal feature of its Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve in 1984.
A series of Native American groups inhabited the area from as early as 7000 BC, most recently the Timbisha around 1000 AD who migrated between winter camps in the valleys and summer grounds in the mountains. A group of European Americans, trapped in the valley in 1849 while looking for a shortcut to the gold fields of California, gave the valley its name, even though only one of their group died there. Several short-lived boom towns sprang up during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to mine gold and silver. The only long-term profitable ore to be mined was borax, which was transported out of the valley with twenty-mule teams. The valley later became the subject of books, radio programs, television series, and movies. Tourism expanded in the 1920s when resorts were built around Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek. Death Valley National Monument was declared in 1933 and the park was substantially expanded and became a national park in 1994.
The natural environment of the area has been shaped largely by its geology. The valley is actually a graben with the oldest rocks being extensively metamorphosed and at least 1.7 billion years old. Ancient, warm, shallow seas deposited marine sediments until rifting opened the Pacific Ocean. Additional sedimentation occurred until a subduction zone formed off the coast. The subduction uplifted the region out of the sea and created a line of volcanoes. Later the crust started to pull apart, creating the current Basin and Range landform. Valleys filled with sediment and, during the wet times of glacial periods, with lakes, such as Lake Manly.
Death Valley is the fifth-largest American national park and the largest in the contiguous United States. It is also larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, and nearly as large as Puerto Rico. In 2013, Death Valley National Park was designated as a dark sky park by the International Dark-Sky Association
There are two major valleys in the park, Death Valley and Panamint Valley. Both of these valleys were formed within the last few million years and both are bounded by north–south-trending mountain ranges. These and adjacent valleys follow the general trend of Basin and Range topography with one modification: there are parallel strike-slip faults that perpendicularly bound the central extent of Death Valley. The result of this shearing action is additional extension in the central part of Death Valley which causes a slight widening and more subsidence there.
Uplift of surrounding mountain ranges and subsidence of the valley floor are both occurring. The uplift on the Black Mountains is so fast that the alluvial fans (fan-shaped deposits at the mouth of canyons) there are small and steep compared to the huge alluvial fans coming off the Panamint Range. Fast uplift of a mountain range in an arid environment often does not allow its canyons enough time to cut a classic V-shape all the way down to the stream bed. Instead, a V-shape ends at a slot canyon halfway down, forming a 'wine glass canyon.' Sediment is deposited on a small and steep alluvial fan.
At 282 feet (86 m) below sea level at its lowest point, Badwater Basin on Death Valley's floor is the second-lowest depression in the Western Hemisphere (behind Laguna del Carbón in Argentina), while Mount Whitney, only 85 miles (137 km) to the west, rises to 14,505 feet (4,421 m) and is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States. This topographic relief is the greatest elevation gradient in the contiguous United States and is the terminus point of the Great Basin's southwestern drainage.[8] Although the extreme lack of water in the Great Basin makes this distinction of little current practical use, it does mean that in wetter times the lake that once filled Death Valley (Lake Manly) was the last stop for water flowing in the region, meaning the water there was saturated in dissolved materials. Thus, the salt pans in Death Valley are among the largest in the world and are rich in minerals, such as borax and various salts and hydrates. The largest salt pan in the park extends 40 miles (64 km) from the Ashford Mill Site to the Salt Creek Hills, covering some 200 square miles (520 km2) of the valley floor. The best known playa in the park is the Racetrack, known for its moving rocks.
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Death Valley National Park has a hot desert climate (BWh). The plant hardiness zone at Badwater Basin is 9b with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of 28.0 °F (–2.2 °C).
Death Valley is the hottest and driest place in North America due to its lack of surface water and low relief. It is so frequently the hottest spot in the United States that many tabulations of the highest daily temperatures in the country omit Death Valley as a matter of course.
On the afternoon of July 10, 1913, the United States Weather Bureau recorded a high temperature of 134 °F (56.7 °C) at Greenland Ranch (now Furnace Creek) in Death Valley. This temperature stands as the highest ambient air temperature ever recorded at the surface of the Earth. (A report of a temperature of 58 °C (136.4 °F) recorded in Libya in 1922 was later determined to be inaccurate.)[18] Daily summer temperatures of 120 °F (49 °C) or greater are common, as well as below freezing nightly temperatures in the winter. July is the hottest month, with an average high of 117 °F (47 °C) and an average low of 91 °F (33 °C). December is the coldest month, with an average high of 66 °F (19 °C) and an average low of 41 °F (5 °C). The record low is 15 °F (−9.4 °C). There are an average of 197.3 days annually with highs of 90 °F (32.2 °C) or higher and 146.9 days annually with highs of 100 °F (37.8 °C) or higher. Freezing temperatures of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower occur on an average of 8.6 days annually.
Several of the larger Death Valley springs derive their water from a regional aquifer, which extends as far east as southern Nevada and Utah. Much of the water in this aquifer has been there for many thousands of years, since the Pleistocene ice ages, when the climate was cooler and wetter. Today's drier climate does not provide enough precipitation to recharge the aquifer at the rate at which water is being withdrawn.
The highest range within the park is the Panamint Range, with Telescope Peak being its highest point at 11,049 feet (3,368 m). The Death Valley region is a transitional zone in the northernmost part of the Mojave Desert and consists of five mountain ranges removed from the Pacific Ocean. Three of these are significant barriers: the Sierra Nevada, the Argus Range, and the Panamint Range. Air masses tend to lose moisture as they are forced up over mountain ranges, in what climatologists call a rainshadow effect.
The exaggerated rain shadow effect for the Death Valley area makes it North America's driest spot, receiving about 1.5 inches (38 mm) of rainfall annually at Badwater, and some years fail to register any measurable rainfall.[20] Annual average precipitation varies from 1.92 inches (49 mm) overall below sea level to over 15 inches (380 mm) in the higher mountains that surround the valley. When rain does arrive it often does so in intense storms that cause flash floods which remodel the landscape and sometimes create very shallow ephemeral lakes.
The hot, dry climate makes it difficult for soil to form. Mass wasting, the down-slope movement of loose rock, is therefore the dominant erosive force in mountainous areas, resulting in "skeletonized" ranges (mountains with very little soil on them). Sand dunes in the park, while famous, are not nearly as widespread as their fame or the dryness of the area may suggest. The Mesquite Flat dune field is the most easily accessible from the paved road just east of Stovepipe Wells in the north-central part of the valley and is primarily made of quartz sand. Another dune field is just 10 miles (16 km) to the north but is instead mostly composed of travertine sand. The highest dunes in the park, and some of the highest in North America, are located in the Eureka Valley about 50 miles (80 km) to the north of Stovepipe Wells, while the Panamint Valley dunes and the Saline Valley dunes are located west and northwest of the town, respectively. The Ibex dune field is near the seldom-visited Ibex Hill in the southernmost part of the park, just south of the Saratoga Springs marshland. All the latter four dune fields are accessible only via unpaved roads. Prevailing winds in the winter come from the north, and prevailing winds in the summer come from the south. Thus, the overall position of the dune fields remains more or less fixed.
There are rare exceptions to the dry nature of the area. In 2005, an unusually wet winter created a 'lake' in the Badwater Basin and led to the greatest wildflower season in the park's history. In October 2015, a "1000 year flood event" with over three inches of rain caused major damage in Death Valley National Park. A similar widespread storm in August 2022 damaged pavement and deposited debris on nearly every road, trapping 1,000 residents and visitors overnight.
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the most populated subnational entity in North America and the 34th most populous in the world. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second and fifth most populous urban regions respectively, with the former having more than 18.7 million residents and the latter having over 9.6 million. Sacramento is the state's capital, while Los Angeles is the most populous city in the state and the second most populous city in the country. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the country. Los Angeles County is the country's most populous, while San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the country. California borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, the Mexican state of Baja California to the south; and has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the west.
The economy of the state of California is the largest in the United States, with a $3.4 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2022. It is the largest sub-national economy in the world. If California were a sovereign nation, it would rank as the world's fifth-largest economy as of 2022, behind Germany and ahead of India, as well as the 37th most populous. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and third-largest urban economies ($1.0 trillion and $0.5 trillion respectively as of 2020). The San Francisco Bay Area Combined Statistical Area had the nation's highest gross domestic product per capita ($106,757) among large primary statistical areas in 2018, and is home to five of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and four of the world's ten richest people.
Prior to European colonization, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America and contained the highest Native American population density north of what is now Mexico. European exploration in the 16th and 17th centuries led to the colonization of California by the Spanish Empire. In 1804, it was included in Alta California province within the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821, following its successful war for independence, but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. The California Gold Rush started in 1848 and led to dramatic social and demographic changes, including large-scale immigration into California, a worldwide economic boom, and the California genocide of indigenous people. The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850, following the Compromise of 1850.
Notable contributions to popular culture, for example in entertainment and sports, have their origins in California. The state also has made noteworthy contributions in the fields of communication, information, innovation, environmentalism, economics, and politics. It is the home of Hollywood, the oldest and one of the largest film industries in the world, which has had a profound influence upon global entertainment. It is considered the origin of the hippie counterculture, beach and car culture, and the personal computer, among other innovations. The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are widely seen as the centers of the global technology and film industries, respectively. California's economy is very diverse: 58% of it is based on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific, and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy, California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state. California's ports and harbors handle about a third of all U.S. imports, most originating in Pacific Rim international trade.
The state's extremely diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast and metropolitan areas in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east, and from the redwood and Douglas fir forests in the northwest to the Mojave Desert in the southeast. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, dominates the state's center. California is well known for its warm Mediterranean climate and monsoon seasonal weather. The large size of the state results in climates that vary from moist temperate rainforest in the north to arid desert in the interior, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains.
Settled by successive waves of arrivals during at least the last 13,000 years, California was one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse areas in pre-Columbian North America. Various estimates of the native population have ranged from 100,000 to 300,000. The indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct ethnic groups, inhabiting environments from mountains and deserts to islands and redwood forests. These groups were also diverse in their political organization, with bands, tribes, villages, and on the resource-rich coasts, large chiefdoms, such as the Chumash, Pomo and Salinan. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered social and economic relationships between many groups.
The first Europeans to explore the coast of California were the members of a Spanish maritime expedition led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542. Cabrillo was commissioned by Antonio de Mendoza, the Viceroy of New Spain, to lead an expedition up the Pacific coast in search of trade opportunities; they entered San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542, and reached at least as far north as San Miguel Island. Privateer and explorer Francis Drake explored and claimed an undefined portion of the California coast in 1579, landing north of the future city of San Francisco. Sebastián Vizcaíno explored and mapped the coast of California in 1602 for New Spain, putting ashore in Monterey. Despite the on-the-ground explorations of California in the 16th century, Rodríguez's idea of California as an island persisted. Such depictions appeared on many European maps well into the 18th century.
The Portolá expedition of 1769-70 was a pivotal event in the Spanish colonization of California, resulting in the establishment of numerous missions, presidios, and pueblos. The military and civil contingent of the expedition was led by Gaspar de Portolá, who traveled over land from Sonora into California, while the religious component was headed by Junípero Serra, who came by sea from Baja California. In 1769, Portolá and Serra established Mission San Diego de Alcalá and the Presidio of San Diego, the first religious and military settlements founded by the Spanish in California. By the end of the expedition in 1770, they would establish the Presidio of Monterey and Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo on Monterey Bay.
After the Portolà expedition, Spanish missionaries led by Father-President Serra set out to establish 21 Spanish missions of California along El Camino Real ("The Royal Road") and along the Californian coast, 16 sites of which having been chosen during the Portolá expedition. Numerous major cities in California grew out of missions, including San Francisco (Mission San Francisco de Asís), San Diego (Mission San Diego de Alcalá), Ventura (Mission San Buenaventura), or Santa Barbara (Mission Santa Barbara), among others.
Juan Bautista de Anza led a similarly important expedition throughout California in 1775–76, which would extend deeper into the interior and north of California. The Anza expedition selected numerous sites for missions, presidios, and pueblos, which subsequently would be established by settlers. Gabriel Moraga, a member of the expedition, would also christen many of California's prominent rivers with their names in 1775–1776, such as the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River. After the expedition, Gabriel's son, José Joaquín Moraga, would found the pueblo of San Jose in 1777, making it the first civilian-established city in California.
The Spanish founded Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776, the third to be established of the Californian missions.
During this same period, sailors from the Russian Empire explored along the northern coast of California. In 1812, the Russian-American Company established a trading post and small fortification at Fort Ross on the North Coast. Fort Ross was primarily used to supply Russia's Alaskan colonies with food supplies. The settlement did not meet much success, failing to attract settlers or establish long term trade viability, and was abandoned by 1841.
During the War of Mexican Independence, Alta California was largely unaffected and uninvolved in the revolution, though many Californios supported independence from Spain, which many believed had neglected California and limited its development. Spain's trade monopoly on California had limited the trade prospects of Californians. Following Mexican independence, Californian ports were freely able to trade with foreign merchants. Governor Pablo Vicente de Solá presided over the transition from Spanish colonial rule to independent.
In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence gave the Mexican Empire (which included California) independence from Spain. For the next 25 years, Alta California remained a remote, sparsely populated, northwestern administrative district of the newly independent country of Mexico, which shortly after independence became a republic. The missions, which controlled most of the best land in the state, were secularized by 1834 and became the property of the Mexican government. The governor granted many square leagues of land to others with political influence. These huge ranchos or cattle ranches emerged as the dominant institutions of Mexican California. The ranchos developed under ownership by Californios (Hispanics native of California) who traded cowhides and tallow with Boston merchants. Beef did not become a commodity until the 1849 California Gold Rush.
From the 1820s, trappers and settlers from the United States and Canada began to arrive in Northern California. These new arrivals used the Siskiyou Trail, California Trail, Oregon Trail and Old Spanish Trail to cross the rugged mountains and harsh deserts in and surrounding California. The early government of the newly independent Mexico was highly unstable, and in a reflection of this, from 1831 onwards, California also experienced a series of armed disputes, both internal and with the central Mexican government. During this tumultuous political period Juan Bautista Alvarado was able to secure the governorship during 1836–1842. The military action which first brought Alvarado to power had momentarily declared California to be an independent state, and had been aided by Anglo-American residents of California, including Isaac Graham. In 1840, one hundred of those residents who did not have passports were arrested, leading to the Graham Affair, which was resolved in part with the intercession of Royal Navy officials.
One of the largest ranchers in California was John Marsh. After failing to obtain justice against squatters on his land from the Mexican courts, he determined that California should become part of the United States. Marsh conducted a letter-writing campaign espousing the California climate, the soil, and other reasons to settle there, as well as the best route to follow, which became known as "Marsh's route". His letters were read, reread, passed around, and printed in newspapers throughout the country, and started the first wagon trains rolling to California. He invited immigrants to stay on his ranch until they could get settled, and assisted in their obtaining passports.
After ushering in the period of organized emigration to California, Marsh became involved in a military battle between the much-hated Mexican general, Manuel Micheltorena and the California governor he had replaced, Juan Bautista Alvarado. The armies of each met at the Battle of Providencia near Los Angeles. Marsh had been forced against his will to join Micheltorena's army. Ignoring his superiors, during the battle, he signaled the other side for a parley. There were many settlers from the United States fighting on both sides. He convinced these men that they had no reason to be fighting each other. As a result of Marsh's actions, they abandoned the fight, Micheltorena was defeated, and California-born Pio Pico was returned to the governorship. This paved the way to California's ultimate acquisition by the United States.
In 1846, a group of American settlers in and around Sonoma rebelled against Mexican rule during the Bear Flag Revolt. Afterward, rebels raised the Bear Flag (featuring a bear, a star, a red stripe and the words "California Republic") at Sonoma. The Republic's only president was William B. Ide,[65] who played a pivotal role during the Bear Flag Revolt. This revolt by American settlers served as a prelude to the later American military invasion of California and was closely coordinated with nearby American military commanders.
The California Republic was short-lived; the same year marked the outbreak of the Mexican–American War (1846–48).
Commodore John D. Sloat of the United States Navy sailed into Monterey Bay in 1846 and began the U.S. military invasion of California, with Northern California capitulating in less than a month to the United States forces. In Southern California, Californios continued to resist American forces. Notable military engagements of the conquest include the Battle of San Pasqual and the Battle of Dominguez Rancho in Southern California, as well as the Battle of Olómpali and the Battle of Santa Clara in Northern California. After a series of defensive battles in the south, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed by the Californios on January 13, 1847, securing a censure and establishing de facto American control in California.
Following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (February 2, 1848) that ended the war, the westernmost portion of the annexed Mexican territory of Alta California soon became the American state of California, and the remainder of the old territory was then subdivided into the new American Territories of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah. The even more lightly populated and arid lower region of old Baja California remained as a part of Mexico. In 1846, the total settler population of the western part of the old Alta California had been estimated to be no more than 8,000, plus about 100,000 Native Americans, down from about 300,000 before Hispanic settlement in 1769.
In 1848, only one week before the official American annexation of the area, gold was discovered in California, this being an event which was to forever alter both the state's demographics and its finances. Soon afterward, a massive influx of immigration into the area resulted, as prospectors and miners arrived by the thousands. The population burgeoned with United States citizens, Europeans, Chinese and other immigrants during the great California Gold Rush. By the time of California's application for statehood in 1850, the settler population of California had multiplied to 100,000. By 1854, more than 300,000 settlers had come. Between 1847 and 1870, the population of San Francisco increased from 500 to 150,000.
The seat of government for California under Spanish and later Mexican rule had been located in Monterey from 1777 until 1845. Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California, had briefly moved the capital to Los Angeles in 1845. The United States consulate had also been located in Monterey, under consul Thomas O. Larkin.
In 1849, a state Constitutional Convention was first held in Monterey. Among the first tasks of the convention was a decision on a location for the new state capital. The first full legislative sessions were held in San Jose (1850–1851). Subsequent locations included Vallejo (1852–1853), and nearby Benicia (1853–1854); these locations eventually proved to be inadequate as well. The capital has been located in Sacramento since 1854 with only a short break in 1862 when legislative sessions were held in San Francisco due to flooding in Sacramento. Once the state's Constitutional Convention had finalized its state constitution, it applied to the U.S. Congress for admission to statehood. On September 9, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850, California became a free state and September 9 a state holiday.
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), California sent gold shipments eastward to Washington in support of the Union. However, due to the existence of a large contingent of pro-South sympathizers within the state, the state was not able to muster any full military regiments to send eastwards to officially serve in the Union war effort. Still, several smaller military units within the Union army were unofficially associated with the state of California, such as the "California 100 Company", due to a majority of their members being from California.
At the time of California's admission into the Union, travel between California and the rest of the continental United States had been a time-consuming and dangerous feat. Nineteen years later, and seven years after it was greenlighted by President Lincoln, the First transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. California was then reachable from the eastern States in a week's time.
Much of the state was extremely well suited to fruit cultivation and agriculture in general. Vast expanses of wheat, other cereal crops, vegetable crops, cotton, and nut and fruit trees were grown (including oranges in Southern California), and the foundation was laid for the state's prodigious agricultural production in the Central Valley and elsewhere.
In the nineteenth century, a large number of migrants from China traveled to the state as part of the Gold Rush or to seek work. Even though the Chinese proved indispensable in building the transcontinental railroad from California to Utah, perceived job competition with the Chinese led to anti-Chinese riots in the state, and eventually the US ended migration from China partially as a response to pressure from California with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.
Under earlier Spanish and Mexican rule, California's original native population had precipitously declined, above all, from Eurasian diseases to which the indigenous people of California had not yet developed a natural immunity. Under its new American administration, California's harsh governmental policies towards its own indigenous people did not improve. As in other American states, many of the native inhabitants were soon forcibly removed from their lands by incoming American settlers such as miners, ranchers, and farmers. Although California had entered the American union as a free state, the "loitering or orphaned Indians" were de facto enslaved by their new Anglo-American masters under the 1853 Act for the Government and Protection of Indians. There were also massacres in which hundreds of indigenous people were killed.
Between 1850 and 1860, the California state government paid around 1.5 million dollars (some 250,000 of which was reimbursed by the federal government) to hire militias whose purpose was to protect settlers from the indigenous populations. In later decades, the native population was placed in reservations and rancherias, which were often small and isolated and without enough natural resources or funding from the government to sustain the populations living on them. As a result, the rise of California was a calamity for the native inhabitants. Several scholars and Native American activists, including Benjamin Madley and Ed Castillo, have described the actions of the California government as a genocide.
In the twentieth century, thousands of Japanese people migrated to the US and California specifically to attempt to purchase and own land in the state. However, the state in 1913 passed the Alien Land Act, excluding Asian immigrants from owning land. During World War II, Japanese Americans in California were interned in concentration camps such as at Tule Lake and Manzanar. In 2020, California officially apologized for this internment.
Migration to California accelerated during the early 20th century with the completion of major transcontinental highways like the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. In the period from 1900 to 1965, the population grew from fewer than one million to the greatest in the Union. In 1940, the Census Bureau reported California's population as 6.0% Hispanic, 2.4% Asian, and 89.5% non-Hispanic white.
To meet the population's needs, major engineering feats like the California and Los Angeles Aqueducts; the Oroville and Shasta Dams; and the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges were built across the state. The state government also adopted the California Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960 to develop a highly efficient system of public education.
Meanwhile, attracted to the mild Mediterranean climate, cheap land, and the state's wide variety of geography, filmmakers established the studio system in Hollywood in the 1920s. California manufactured 8.7 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking third (behind New York and Michigan) among the 48 states. California however easily ranked first in production of military ships during the war (transport, cargo, [merchant ships] such as Liberty ships, Victory ships, and warships) at drydock facilities in San Diego, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. After World War II, California's economy greatly expanded due to strong aerospace and defense industries, whose size decreased following the end of the Cold War. Stanford University and its Dean of Engineering Frederick Terman began encouraging faculty and graduates to stay in California instead of leaving the state, and develop a high-tech region in the area now known as Silicon Valley. As a result of these efforts, California is regarded as a world center of the entertainment and music industries, of technology, engineering, and the aerospace industry, and as the United States center of agricultural production. Just before the Dot Com Bust, California had the fifth-largest economy in the world among nations.
In the mid and late twentieth century, a number of race-related incidents occurred in the state. Tensions between police and African Americans, combined with unemployment and poverty in inner cities, led to violent riots, such as the 1965 Watts riots and 1992 Rodney King riots. California was also the hub of the Black Panther Party, a group known for arming African Americans to defend against racial injustice and for organizing free breakfast programs for schoolchildren. Additionally, Mexican, Filipino, and other migrant farm workers rallied in the state around Cesar Chavez for better pay in the 1960s and 1970s.
During the 20th century, two great disasters happened in California. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and 1928 St. Francis Dam flood remain the deadliest in U.S. history.
Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze known as "smog" has been substantially abated after the passage of federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.
An energy crisis in 2001 led to rolling blackouts, soaring power rates, and the importation of electricity from neighboring states. Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company came under heavy criticism.
Housing prices in urban areas continued to increase; a modest home which in the 1960s cost $25,000 would cost half a million dollars or more in urban areas by 2005. More people commuted longer hours to afford a home in more rural areas while earning larger salaries in the urban areas. Speculators bought houses they never intended to live in, expecting to make a huge profit in a matter of months, then rolling it over by buying more properties. Mortgage companies were compliant, as everyone assumed the prices would keep rising. The bubble burst in 2007–8 as housing prices began to crash and the boom years ended. Hundreds of billions in property values vanished and foreclosures soared as many financial institutions and investors were badly hurt.
In the twenty-first century, droughts and frequent wildfires attributed to climate change have occurred in the state. From 2011 to 2017, a persistent drought was the worst in its recorded history. The 2018 wildfire season was the state's deadliest and most destructive, most notably Camp Fire.
Although air pollution problems have been reduced, health problems associated with pollution have continued. The brown haze that is known as "smog" has been substantially abated thanks to federal and state restrictions on automobile exhaust.
One of the first confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States that occurred in California was first of which was confirmed on January 26, 2020. Meaning, all of the early confirmed cases were persons who had recently travelled to China in Asia, as testing was restricted to this group. On this January 29, 2020, as disease containment protocols were still being developed, the U.S. Department of State evacuated 195 persons from Wuhan, China aboard a chartered flight to March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, and in this process, it may have granted and conferred to escalated within the land and the US at cosmic. On February 5, 2020, the U.S. evacuated 345 more citizens from Hubei Province to two military bases in California, Travis Air Force Base in Solano County and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, where they were quarantined for 14 days. A state of emergency was largely declared in this state of the nation on March 4, 2020, and as of February 24, 2021, remains in effect. A mandatory statewide stay-at-home order was issued on March 19, 2020, due to increase, which was ended on January 25, 2021, allowing citizens to return to normal life. On April 6, 2021, the state announced plans to fully reopen the economy by June 15, 2021.
Full set (so far) here - www.flickr.com/photos/timster1973/sets/72157643948151514/
Euromaidan (Yevromaidan, literally "Eurosquare") is a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on the night of 21 November 2013 with public protests demanding closer European integration and culminated in a coup d'etat of the reigning Ukrainian government. The scope of the protests expanded, with many calls for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych and his government. Many protesters joined because of the violent dispersal of protesters on 30 November and "a will to change life in Ukraine". By 25 January 2014, the protests had been fueled by the perception of "widespread government corruption", "abuse of power", and "violation of human rights in Ukraine".
The demonstrations began on the night of 21 November 2013, when protests erupted in the capital, Kiev, after the Ukrainian government suspended preparations for signing an Association Agreement and a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, in order to seek closer economic relations with Russia. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov had asked for 20 Billion Euros (US$27) billion in loans and aid. The EU and Russia both offered Ukraine the possibility of substantial loans. Russia also offered Ukraine cheaper gas prices. On 24 November 2013, first clashes between protesters and police began. Protesters strived to break cordon. Police used tear gas and batons, protesters also used tear gas and some fire crackers (according to the police, protesters were the first to use them). After a few days of demonstrations an increasing number of university students joined the protests. The Euromaidan has been repeatedly characterised as an event of major political symbolism for the European Union itself, particularly as
"the largest ever pro-European rally in history".
The protests are ongoing despite heavy police presence, regularly sub-freezing temperatures, and snow. Escalating violence from government forces in the early morning of 30 November caused the level of protests to rise, with 400,000–800,000 protesters demonstrating in Kiev on the weekends of 1 December and 8 December. In the weeks since, protest attendance has fluctuated from 50,000 to 200,000 during organised rallies. Violent riots took place 1 December and 19 January through 25 in response to police brutality and government repression. Since 23 January several Western Ukrainian Oblast (province) Governor buildings and regional councils have been occupied in a revolt by Euromaidan activists. In the Russophone cities of Zaporizhzhya, Sumy, and Dnipropetrovsk, protesters also tried to take over their local government building, and have been met with considerable force from both police and government supporters.
According to journalist Lecia Bushak writing in the 18 February 2014 issue of Newsweek magazine, EuroMaidan has grown into something far bigger than just an angry response to the fallen-through EU deal. It's now about ousting Yanukovych and his corrupt government; guiding Ukraine away from its 200-year-long, deeply intertwined and painful relationship with Russia; and standing up for basic human rights to protest, speak and think freely and to act peacefully without the threat of punishment.
A turning point came in late-February, when enough members of the president's party fled or defected to lose their majority in the parliament leaving the opposition large enough to form the necessary quorum. This allowed parliament to pass a series of laws that removed police from Kiev, canceled anti-protest operations, restored the 2004 constitution, freed political detainees, and allegedly impeached the president. Yanukovych then fled to Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv, refusing to recognise the parliament's decisions. The parliament has assigned early elections for May 2014.
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After some freezing temperatures & Snow then extremely wet conditions over last few day the sun came out this morning & so did his chap, one of the regulars..25th Nov latest I've seen one .. New Forest
For my video; youtu.be/qS8rCLo2DGM,
Near freezing temperatures
cattle enjoying a sunny winter morning
Yellow Jacket, Colorado, United States
Yellowjacket Pass is a 7,785 ft (2,373 m) elevation mountain pass in Archuleta County, Colorado in the United States.
Nanga Parbat at dawn in Fairy Meadows. After a cold night in cabins with no heat or isolation and freezing temperatures, the bed had just become warm as we crawled out and was treated to this view.
Halfway asleep, I apparently sat the gorilla down close to a little pond and fired away a few exposure bracketed shots. This is an HDR processed and tone mapped in Photomatix at default settings.
A man and child walk on the frozen reflecting pool of the Lincoln Memorial, turned to ice by many days of sub-freezing temperatures in Washington DC.
www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/...