Atmosphere of Venus

The atmosphere of Venus is the layer of gases surrounding Venus . It is composed primarily of carbon dioxide and is much denser and hotter than that of Earth . The temperature at the surface is 740 K ( 467 ° C , 872 ° F ) , and the pressure is 93 bar ( 9.3 MPa ) , roughly the pressure found 900 m underwater on Earth . The Venusian atmosphere supports opaque clouds made of sulfuric acid , making optical Earth-based and orbital observation of the surface impossible . Information about the topography has been obtained exclusively by radar imaging . Aside from carbon dioxide , the other main component is nitrogen . Other chemical compounds are present only in trace amounts .   Mikhail Lomonosov was the first person to hypothesize the existence of an atmosphere on Venus based on his observation of the transit of Venus of 1761 in a small observatory near his house in Saint Petersburg , Russia .   Aside from the very surface layers , the atmosphere is in a state of vigorous circulation . The upper layer of troposphere exhibits a phenomenon of super-rotation , in which the atmosphere circles the planet in just four Earth days , much faster than the planet 's sidereal day of 243 days . The winds supporting super-rotation blow at a speed of 100 m/s ( ~ 360 km/h or 220 mph ) or more . Winds move at up to 60 times the speed of the planet 's rotation , while Earth 's fastest winds are only 10 % to 20 % rotation speed . On the other hand , the wind speed becomes increasingly slower as the elevation from the surface decreases , with the breeze barely reaching the speed of 10 km/h ( 2.8 m/s ) on the surface . Near the poles are anticyclonic structures called polar vortices . Each vortex is double-eyed and shows a characteristic S-shaped pattern of clouds . Above there is an intermediate layer of mesosphere which separates the troposphere from the thermosphere . The thermosphere is also characterized by strong circulation , but very different in its nature - the gases heated and partially ionized by sunlight in the sunlit hemisphere migrate to the dark hemisphere where they recombine and downwell .   Unlike Earth , Venus lacks a magnetic field . Its ionosphere separates the atmosphere from outer space and the solar wind . This ionised layer excludes the solar magnetic field , giving Venus a distinct magnetic environment . This is considered Venus 's induced magnetosphere . Lighter gases , including water vapour , are continuously blown away by the solar wind through the induced magnetotail . It is speculated that the atmosphere of Venus up to around 4 billion years ago was more like that of the Earth with liquid water on the surface . A runaway greenhouse effect may have been caused by the evaporation of the surface water and subsequent rise of the levels of other greenhouse gases .   Despite the harsh conditions on the surface , the atmospheric pressure and temperature at about 50 km to 65 km above the surface of the planet is nearly the same as that of the Earth , making its upper atmosphere the most Earth-like area in the Solar System , even more so than the surface of Mars . Due to the similarity in pressure and temperature and the fact that breathable air ( 21 % oxygen , 78 % nitrogen ) is a lifting gas on Venus in the same way that helium is a lifting gas on Earth , the upper atmosphere has been proposed as a location for both exploration and colonization .   On January 29 , 2013 , ESA scientists reported that the ionosphere of the planet Venus streams outwards in a manner similar to `` the ion tail seen streaming from a comet under similar conditions . ''


Atmospheric methane

Atmospheric methane is the methane present in Earth 's atmosphere . Atmospheric methane concentrations are of interest because it is one of the most potent greenhouse gases in Earth 's atmosphere . The 100-year global warming potential of methane is 28 . That is , over a 100-year period , it traps 28 times more heat per mass unit than carbon dioxide and 32 times the effect when accounted for aerosol interactions . Global methane levels , had risen to 1800 parts per billion ( ppb ) by 2011 , an increase by a factor of 2.5 since pre-industrial times , from 722 ppb , the highest value in at least 800,000 years . Its concentration is higher in the Northern Hemisphere since most sources ( both natural and human ) are located on land and the Northern Hemisphere has more land mass . The concentrations vary seasonally , with , for example , a minimum in the northern tropics during April − May mainly due to removal by the hydroxyl radical .   Early in the Earth 's history carbon dioxide and methane likely produced a greenhouse effect . The carbon dioxide would have been produced by volcanoes and the methane by early microbes . During this time , Earth 's earliest life appeared . These first , ancient bacteria added to the methane concentration by converting hydrogen and carbon dioxide into methane and water . Oxygen did not become a major part of the atmosphere until photosynthetic organisms evolved later in Earth 's history . With no oxygen , methane stayed in the atmosphere longer and at higher concentrations than it does today .   Methane is created near the surface , and it is carried into the stratosphere by rising air in the tropics . Uncontrolled build-up of methane in Earth 's atmosphere is naturally checked -- although human influence can upset this natural regulation -- by methane 's reaction with hydroxyl radicals formed from singlet oxygen atoms and with water vapor .


Attribution of recent climate change

Attribution of recent climate change is the effort to scientifically ascertain mechanisms responsible for recent climate changes on Earth , commonly known as ` global warming ' . The effort has focused on changes observed during the period of instrumental temperature record , when records are most reliable ; particularly in the last 50 years , when human activity has grown fastest and observations of the troposphere have become available . The dominant mechanisms are anthropogenic , i.e. , the result of human activity . They are :  increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases  global changes to land surface , such as deforestation  increasing atmospheric concentrations of aerosols .   There are also natural mechanisms for variation including climate oscillations , changes in solar activity , and volcanic activity .   According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) , it is `` extremely likely '' that human influence was the dominant cause of global warming between 1951 and 2010 . The IPCC defines `` extremely likely '' as indicating a probability of 95 to 100 % , based on an expert assessment of all the available evidence .   Multiple lines of evidence support attribution of recent climate change to human activities :  A basic physical understanding of the climate system : greenhouse gas concentrations have increased and their warming properties are well-established .  Historical estimates of past climate changes suggest that the recent changes in global surface temperature are unusual .  Computer-based climate models are unable to replicate the observed warming unless human greenhouse gas emissions are included .  Natural forces alone ( such as solar and volcanic activity ) can not explain the observed warming .   The IPCC 's attribution of recent global warming to human activities is a view shared by the scientific community , and is also supported by 196 other scientific organizations worldwide ( see also : scientific opinion on climate change ) .


Austin, Texas

Austin ( -LSB- audio = En-us-Austin . ogaˈɒstᵻn , _ ˈɔː - -RSB- ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County , although portions extend into Hays and Williamson counties . It is the city in the U.S. and the in Texas . It is the fastest growing large city in the United States and the second most populous capital city after Phoenix , Arizona . As of the U.S. Census Bureau 's July 1 , 2015 estimate , Austin has a population of 931,830 . Located in in the foothills of Texas Hill Country , the city is home to numerous lakes , rivers , and waterways including Lady Bird Lake , Barton Springs , McKinney Falls , the Colorado River , Lake Travis , and Lake Walter E. Long . It is the cultural and economic center of the metropolitan area , which had an estimated population of 2,056,405 as of July 1 , 2016 .   In the 1830s , pioneers began to settle the area in central Austin along the Colorado River . In 1839 , the site was officially chosen to replace Houston as the new capital of the Republic of Texas and was incorporated under the name `` Waterloo . '' Shortly thereafter , the name was changed to `` Austin '' in honor of Stephen F. Austin , the `` Father of Texas '' and the republic 's first secretary of state . The city subsequently grew throughout the 19th century and became a center for government and education with the construction of the Texas State Capitol and the University of Texas at Austin . After a lull in growth from the Great Depression , Austin resumed its development into a major city and , by the 1980s , it emerged as a center for technology and business . A number of Fortune 500 companies have headquarters or regional offices in Austin , including Amazon.com , Apple Inc. , Cisco , eBay , Google , IBM , Intel , Oracle Corporation , Texas Instruments , 3M , and Whole Foods Market . Dell 's worldwide headquarters is located in nearby Round Rock , a suburb of Austin .   Residents of Austin are known as Austinites . They include a diverse mix of government employees , college students , musicians , high-tech workers , blue-collar workers , and a vibrant LGBT community . The city 's official slogan promotes Austin as `` The Live Music Capital of the World , '' a reference to the many musicians and live music venues within the city , as well as the long-running PBS TV concert series Austin City Limits . The city also adopted `` Silicon Hills '' as a nickname in the 1990s due to a rapid influx of technology and development companies . In recent years , some Austinites have also adopted the unofficial slogan `` Keep Austin Weird , '' which refers to the desire to protect small , unique , and local businesses from being overrun by large corporations . In the late 19th century , Austin was known as the `` City of the Violet Crown '' because of the colorful glow of light across the hills just after sunset . Even today , many Austin businesses use the term `` Violet Crown '' in their name . Austin is known as a `` clean-air city '' for its stringent no-smoking ordinances that apply to all public places and buildings , including restaurants and bars . The FBI ranked Austin as the second-safest major city in the U.S. for the year 2012 . U.S. News & World Report named Austin the best place to live in the U.S. in 2017 .


Australia

Australia ( -LSB- əˈstreɪliə -RSB- , -LSB- ɒ - -RSB- , -LSB- - ljə -RSB- ) , officially the Commonwealth of Australia , is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands . It is the world 's sixth-largest country by total area . The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea , Indonesia and East Timor to the north ; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east ; and New Zealand to the south-east . Australia 's capital is Canberra , and its largest urban area is Sydney .   For about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century , Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians ,  who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups . After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606 , Australia 's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788 . The population grew steadily in subsequent decades , and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established . On 1 January 1901 , the six colonies federated , forming the Commonwealth of Australia . Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states and several territories . The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard .   Australia has the world 's 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income ( IMF ) . With the second-highest human development index globally , the country ranks highly in quality of life , health , education , economic freedom , and civil liberties and political rights . Australia is a member of the United Nations , G20 , Commonwealth of Nations , ANZUS , Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD ) , World Trade Organization , Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation , and the Pacific Islands Forum .


Australian residential architectural styles have evolved significantly over time , from the early days of structures made from relatively cheap and imported corrugated iron ( which can still be seen in the roofing of historic homes ) to more sophisticated styles borrowed from other countries , such as the Victorian style from the United Kingdom , the Georgian style from North America and Europe and the Californian bungalow from the United States . A common feature of the Australian home is the use of fencing in front gardens , also common in both the UK and the USA . Climate has also influenced housing styles , with balconies and veranda spaces being more prevalent in subtropical Queensland due to the mild , generally warm winters experienced in the state . For many years , Australian homes were built with little understanding of the Australian climate and were widely dependant on European styles that were unsympathetic to Australian landscapes . In recent times , modern Australian residential architecture has reflected the climatic conditions of the country , with adaptations such as double and triple glazing on windows , coordination considerations , use of east and west shade , sufficient insulation , strongly considered to provide comfort to the dweller .   Another aspect of Australian suburbia is that the suburbs tend to have a combination of both upper class and middle class housing in the same neighbourhood . In Melbourne , for instance , one early observer noted that `` a poor house stands side by side with a good house . '' This is somewhat less common today , with home renovations , gentrification and the teardown ( `` knock down , rebuild '' ) method becoming more and more common in affluent suburbs , giving a broader distinction between wealthy and lower class areas . However , the teardown technique has led to home buyers purchasing land or older homes in poorer metropolitan areas and building extravagant McMansion style homes on the land , which look out of place and excessive , failing to match with the remaining houses in the street .   Because architectural styles have varied in the country over the years ( from villas to bungalows and brick renders ) , there is a slight inconsistency in the architectural flow of the suburban streets , with one writer noting that Australian housing styles sometimes `` co-mingle '' and `` co-exist '' awkwardly . This is less common in the United States of America and England , where most homes along a road were built around the same time , typically in similar styles .


Austria

Austria ( listen ) , is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe . It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north , Hungary and Slovakia to the east , Slovenia and Italy to the south , and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west . The territory of Austria covers 83879 km2 . The terrain is highly mountainous , lying within the Alps ; only 32 % of the country is below 500 m , and its highest point is 3798 m . The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language , and Austrian German in its standard form is the country 's official language . Other local official languages are Hungarian , Burgenland Croatian , and Slovene .   The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty , when the vast majority of the country was a part of the Holy Roman Empire . From the time of the Reformation , many northern German princes , resenting the authority of the Emperor , used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion . The Thirty Years War , the influence of the Kingdom of Sweden and Kingdom of France , the rise of the Kingdom of Prussia , and the Napoleonic invasions all weakened the power of the Emperor in the north of Germany , but in the south , and in non-German areas of the Empire , the Emperor and Catholicism maintained control . During the 17th and 18th centuries , Austria retained its position as one of the great powers of Europe and , in response to the coronation of Napoleon as the Emperor of the French , the Austrian Empire was officially proclaimed in 1804 . Following Napoleon 's defeat , Prussia emerged as Austria 's chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany . Austria 's defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz , during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 , cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany . In 1867 , the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary . After the defeat of France in the 1870-1 Franco-Prussian War , Austria was excluded from the new German Empire , although in the following decades , its politics , and its foreign policy , increasingly converged with those of the Prussian-led Empire . During the 1914 July Crisis that followed the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on June 28 , Austria-Hungary , emboldened by a pledge of German support , on July 28 declared war on Serbia because that country had not fully complied with an Austrian ultimatum . Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis , which would ultimately escalate into World War I.   After the collapse of the Habsburg ( Austro-Hungarian ) Empire in 1918 at the end of World War I , Austria adopted and used the name the Republic of German-Austria ( Deutschösterreich ) , later changed to Österreich , in an attempt at union with Germany , but this was forbidden under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye ( 1919 ) . The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919 . In 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss . This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945 , after which Germany was occupied by the Allies and Austria 's former democratic constitution was restored . In 1955 , the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state , ending the occupation . In the same year , the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral .   Today , Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states . The capital and largest city , with a population exceeding 1.7 million , is Vienna . Other major urban areas of Austria include Graz , Linz , Salzburg and Innsbruck . Austria is one of the richest countries in the world , with a nominal per capita GDP of $ 43,724 . The country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index . Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955 , joined the European Union in 1995 , and is a founder of the OECD . Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995 , and adopted the euro currency in 1999 .


Avian influenza

Avian influenza -- known informally as avian flu or bird flu -- refers to `` influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds . '' The type with the greatest risk is highly pathogenic avian influenza ( HPAI ) .   `` Bird flu '' is a phrase similar to `` swine flu , '' `` dog flu , '' `` horse flu , '' or `` human flu '' in that it refers to an illness caused by any of many different strains of influenza viruses that have adapted to a specific host . Out of the three types of influenza viruses ( A , B , and C ) , influenza A virus is a zoonotic infection with a natural reservoir almost entirely in birds . Avian influenza , for most purposes , refers to the influenza A virus .   Though influenza A is adapted to birds , it can also stably adapt and sustain person-to person transmission . Recent influenza research into the genes of the Spanish flu virus shows it to have genes adapted from both human and avian strains . Pigs can also be infected with human , avian , and swine influenza viruses , allow for mixtures of genes ( reassortment ) to create a new virus , which can cause an antigenic shift to a new influenza A virus subtype which most people have little to no immune protection .   Avian influenza strains are divided into two types based on their pathogenicity : high pathogenicity ( HP ) or low pathogenicity ( LP ) . The most well-known HPAI strain , H5N1 , appeared in China in 1996 , and also has low pathogenic strains found in North America . Companion birds in captivity are unlikely to contract the virus and there has been no report of a companion bird with avian influenza since 2003 . Pigeons do not contract or spread the virus .   In the approximate four years from early 2013 to early 2017 , 916 lab-confirmed human cases of H7N9 were reported to the World Health Organization ( WHO ) .   On 9 January 2017 , the National Health and Family Planning Commission of China reported to WHO 106 cases of H7N9 which occurred from late November through late December , including 35 deaths , 2 potential cases of human-to-human transmission , and 80 of these 106 persons stating that they have visited live poultry markets . The cases are reported from Jiangsu ( 52 ) , Zhejiang ( 21 ) , Anhui ( 14 ) , Guangdong ( 14 ) , Shanghai ( 2 ) , Fujian ( 2 ) and Hunan ( 1 ) . Similar sudden increases in the number of human cases of H7N9 have occurred in previous years during December and January .


Avoided Deforestation Partners

Avoided Deforestation Partners , or AD Partners , is a non-profit organization under the auspices of the Center for International Policy in Washington , D.C. AD Partners is involved in the global effort to solve climate change by working to end deforestation in tropical rainforest countries . By avoiding the practice of deforestation , i.e. , clearing forests to provide inexpensive farmland ( also known as `` slash and burn agriculture '' ) , the world gains the significant climate benefits of not releasing carbon into the atmosphere . In addition , avoiding deforestation also allows forests to sequester carbon and scrub the air of pollutants . Beyond protecting our air quality , tropical forests create the conditions for rain , recharge our water sources , provide habitats for myriad plant and animal species , and support a way of life for 1.6 billion forest dependent people . Leading scientists and economists say that ending deforestation is the most cost effective and scalable method of reducing greenhouse gases . In fact , they believe that ending deforestation will cut the timeframe for solving the climate crisis in half .   AD Partners ' focus has been and continues to be on advocating for U.S. and international forest protection policies . A large part of their efforts go towards convening global leaders from government , civil society and the business world at the international United National Climate summits , also known as the UNFCCC COP meetings .   Most recently , AD Partners has joined television and movie climate change projects to help raise awareness about the critical link between climate change and the massive deforestation that continues to occur in rainforest countries such as Brazil and Indonesia . For most of the world , the concept that ending deforestation has a direct and profound link to solving the climate crisis is still very much unknown .


Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change (2005 conference)

In 2005, an international conference titled Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change: A Scientific Symposium on Stabilisation of Greenhouse Gases examined the link between atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration and global warming and its effects. The conference name was derived from Article 2 of the charter for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The conference explored the possible impacts at different levels of greenhouse gas emissions and how the climate might be stabilized at a desired level. The conference took place under the United Kingdom's presidency of the G8, with the participation of around 200 "internationally renowned" scientists from 30 countries. It was chaired by Dennis Tirpak and hosted by the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Exeter, from 1 February to 3 February. The conference was one of many meetings leading up to the 2015 Paris Agreement, at which the international community agreed to limit global warming to no more than 2C in order to have a 50-50 chance of avoiding dangerous climate change. However, a 2018 published study points at a threshold at which temperatures could rise to 4 or 5 degrees through self-reinforcing feedbacks in the climate system, suggesting it is below the 2 degree temperature target.


Axial precession

In astronomy , axial precession is a gravity-induced , slow , and continuous change in the orientation of an astronomical body 's rotational axis . In particular , it can refer to the gradual shift in the orientation of Earth 's axis of rotation , which , similar to a wobbling top , traces out a pair of cones joined at their apices in a cycle of approximately 26,000 years . The term `` precession '' typically refers only to this largest part of the motion ; other changes in the alignment of Earth 's axis -- nutation and polar motion -- are much smaller in magnitude .   Earth 's precession was historically called the precession of the equinoxes , because the equinoxes moved westward along the ecliptic relative to the fixed stars , opposite to the yearly motion of the Sun along the ecliptic . This term is still used in non-technical discussions , that is , when detailed mathematics are absent . Historically ,  the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes is usually attributed in the west to the Hellenistic-era ( 2nd century BC ) astronomer , Hipparchus , although there are claims of its earlier discovery , such as in the Indian text , Vedanga Jyotisha , dating from 700 BC .  With improvements in the ability to calculate the gravitational force between and among planets during the first half of the nineteenth century , it was recognized that the ecliptic itself moved slightly , which was named planetary precession , as early as 1863 , while the dominant component was named lunisolar precession . Their combination was named general precession , instead of precession of the equinoxes .   Lunisolar precession is caused by the gravitational forces of the Moon and Sun on Earth 's equatorial bulge , causing Earth 's axis to move with respect to inertial space . Planetary precession ( an advance ) is due to the small angle between the gravitational force of the other planets on Earth and its orbital plane ( the ecliptic ) , causing the plane of the ecliptic to shift slightly relative to inertial space . Lunisolar precession is about 500 times greater than planetary precession . In addition to the Moon and Sun , the other planets also cause a small movement of Earth 's axis in inertial space , making the contrast in the terms lunisolar versus planetary misleading , so in 2006 the International Astronomical Union recommended that the dominant component be renamed , the precession of the equator , and the minor component be renamed , precession of the ecliptic , but their combination is still named general precession . Many references to the old terms exist in publications predating the change .


BP

BP P.L.C. , formerly British Petroleum , is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London , England . It is one of the world 's seven oil and gas `` supermajors '' , whose performance in 2012 made it the world 's sixth-largest oil and gas company , the sixth-largest energy company by market capitalization and the company with the world 's fifth-largest revenue ( turnover ) . It is a vertically integrated company operating in all areas of the oil and gas industry , including exploration and production , refining , distribution and marketing , petrochemicals , power generation and trading . It also has renewable energy interests in biofuels and wind power .   As of 31 December 2016 , BP had operations in 72 countries worldwide , produced around 3.3 e6oilbbl/d of oil equivalent , and had total proved reserves of 17.81 e9oilbbl of oil equivalent . The company has around 18,000 service stations worldwide . Its largest division is BP America in the United States . In Russia BP owns a 19.75 % stake in Rosneft , the world 's largest publicly traded oil and gas company by hydrocarbon reserves and production . BP has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index . It has secondary listings on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange .   BP 's origins date back to the founding of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company in 1908 , established as a subsidiary of Burmah Oil Company to exploit oil discoveries in Iran . In 1935 , it became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and in 1954 British Petroleum . In 1959 , the company expanded beyond the Middle East to Alaska and it was one of the first companies to strike oil in the North Sea . British Petroleum acquired majority control of Standard Oil of Ohio in 1978 . Formerly majority state-owned , the British government privatised the company in stages between 1979 and 1987 . British Petroleum merged with Amoco in 1998 , becoming BP Amoco plc , and acquired ARCO and Burmah Castrol in 2000 , becoming BP plc in 2001 . From 2003 to 2013 , BP was a partner in the TNK-BP joint venture in Russia .   BP has been directly involved in several major environmental and safety incidents . Among them were the 2005 Texas City Refinery explosion , which caused the death of 15 workers and resulted in a record-setting OSHA fine ; Britain 's largest oil spill , the wreck of Torrey Canyon ; and the 2006 Prudhoe Bay oil spill , the largest oil spill on Alaska 's North Slope , which resulted in a US$ 25 million civil penalty , the largest per-barrel penalty at that time for an oil spill .   The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill , the largest accidental release of oil into marine waters in history , resulted in severe environmental , health and economic consequences , and serious legal and public relations repercussions for BP . 1.8 million gallons of Corexit oil dispersant were used in the cleanup response , becoming the largest application of such chemicals in US history . The company pleaded guilty to 11 counts of felony manslaughter , two misdemeanors , one felony count of lying to Congress , and agreed to pay more than $ 4.5 billion in fines and penalties , the largest criminal resolution in US history . On July 2 , 2015 , BP and five states announced an $ 18.5 billion settlement to be used for Clean Water Act penalties and various claims .


Bachelor's degree

A bachelor 's degree ( from Middle Latin baccalaureus ) or baccalaureate ( from Modern Latin baccalaureatus ) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to seven years ( depending on institution and academic discipline ) . In some institutions and educational systems , some bachelor 's degrees can only be taken as graduate or postgraduate degrees after a first degree has been completed . In countries with qualifications frameworks , bachelor 's degrees are normally one of the major levels in the framework ( sometimes two levels where non-honours and honours bachelor 's degrees are considered separately ) , although some qualifications titled bachelor 's degrees may be at other levels ( e.g. MBBS ) and some qualifications with non-bachelor 's titles may be classified as bachelor 's degrees ( e.g. the Scottish MA and Canadian MD ) .   The term bachelor in the 12th century referred to a knight bachelor , who was too young or poor to gather vassals under his own banner . By the end of the 13th century , it was also used by junior members of guilds or universities . By folk etymology or wordplay , the word baccalaureus came to be associated with bacca lauri ( `` laurel berry '' ) in reference to laurels being awarded for academic success or honours .   Under the British system , and those influenced by it , undergraduate academic degrees are differentiated as either non-honours degrees ( known variously as pass degrees , ordinary degrees or general degrees ) or honours degrees , the latter sometimes denoted by the addition of '' ( Hons ) '' after the degree abbreviation . An honours degree generally requires a higher academic standard than a pass degree , and in some systems an additional year of study beyond the non-honours bachelor 's . In some countries , e.g. Australia , there is a `` postgraduate '' bachelor 's honours degree , which may be taken as a consecutive academic degree , continuing on from the completion of a bachelor 's degree program in the same field , or ( in a similar manner to the UK system ) as part of an integrated honours program .


Baffin Island

Baffin Island ( ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ , Qikiqtaaluk -LSB- qikiqtaːluk -RSB- , Île de Baffin or Terre de Baffin ) , in the Canadian territory of Nunavut , is the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world . Its area is 507451 km2 and its population is about 11,000 ( 2007 estimate ) . It is located 65.4215 N and 70.9654 W. Named after English explorer William Baffin , it is likely that the island was known to Pre-Columbian Norse explorers from Greenland and Iceland and that it was the location of Helluland , spoken of in the Icelandic sagas ( the Grœnlendinga saga and the Saga of Erik the Red , Eiríks saga rauða ) .


Bahrain

Bahrain ( -LSB- bɑːˈreɪn -RSB- البحرين ) , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small Arab monarchy in the Arabian Gulf . It is an island country consisting of a small archipelago centered around Bahrain Island , situated between the Qatar peninsula and the north eastern coast of Saudi Arabia , to which it is connected by the 25 km King Fahd Causeway . Bahrain 's population is 1,234,571 ( c. 2010 ) , including 666,172 non-nationals . It is 780 km2 in size , making it the third smallest nation in Asia after the Maldives and Singapore .   Bahrain is the site of the ancient Dilmun civilisation . It has been famed since antiquity for its pearl fisheries , which were considered the best in the world into the 19th century . Bahrain was one of the earliest areas to convert to Islam ( 628 ) . Following a period of Arab rule , Bahrain was occupied by the Portuguese in 1521 , who in turn were expelled in 1602 by Shah Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty under the Persian Empire . In 1783 , the Bani Utbah clan captured Bahrain from Nasr Al-Madhkur and it has since been ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family , with Ahmed al Fateh as Bahrain 's first hakim . In the late 1800s , following successive treaties with the British , Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom . In 1971 , Bahrain declared independence . Formerly an emirate , Bahrain was declared a Kingdom in 2002 . In 2011 , the country experienced protests inspired by the regional Arab Spring .   Bahrain had the first post-oil economy in the Arabian Gulf . Since the late 20th century , Bahrain has invested in the banking and tourism sectors . Many large financial institutions have a presence in Manama , the country 's capital . Bahrain has a high Human Development Index and was recognised by the World Bank as a high income economy .


Baltimore

Baltimore ( -LSB- ˈbɔːltᵻˌmɔːr -RSB- , locally : -LSB- - allˈbɔɫ.mɔɻ -RSB- ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland , and the 29th-most populous city in the country . It was established by the Constitution of Maryland and is not part of any county ; thus , it is the largest independent city in the United States , with a population of 621,849 as of 2015 . As of 2016 , the population of the Baltimore metropolitan area was estimated to be just under 2.8 million making it the 21st largest metropolitan area in the country .   Founded in 1729 , Baltimore is the second-largest seaport in the Mid-Atlantic . Baltimore 's Inner Harbor was once the second leading port of entry for immigrants to the United States and a major manufacturing center . After a decline in major manufacturing , industrialization and rail transportation , Baltimore shifted to a service-oriented economy , with the Johns Hopkins Hospital ( founded 1889 ) , and Johns Hopkins University ( founded 1876 ) , now the city 's top two employers .   With hundreds of identified districts , Baltimore has been dubbed `` a city of neighborhoods '' . Famous residents have included the writers Edgar Allan Poe , Edith Hamilton , Frederick Douglass , and H.L. Mencken ; jazz musician James `` Eubie '' Blake ; singer Billie Holiday ; actor and filmmaker John Waters ; and baseball player Babe Ruth . In the War of 1812 , Francis Scott Key wrote The Star-Spangled Banner , later the American national anthem , in Baltimore . Baltimore has more public monuments per capita than any other city in the country and is home to some of the earliest National Register historic districts in the nation , including Fell 's Point ( 1969 ) , Federal Hill ( 1970 ) and Mount Vernon Place ( 1971 ) . More than 65,000 properties , or roughly one in three buildings in the city , are listed on the National Register , more than any other city in the nation .


Bangladesh

Bangladesh ( -LSB- bæŋɡləˈdɛʃ -RSB- -LSB- ˌbɑːŋɡləˈdɛʃ -RSB- -LSB- : bn : বাংলাদেশ , বাংলাদেশ -RSB- , -LSB- ˈbaŋlad̪eʃ -RSB- , lit . `` The country of Bengal '' ) , officially the People 's Republic of Bangladesh , is a country in South Asia . It shares land borders with India and Myanmar ( Burma ) . Nepal , Bhutan and China are located near Bangladesh but do not share a border with it . The country 's maritime territory in the Bay of Bengal is roughly equal to the size of its land area . Bangladesh is the world 's eighth most populous country . Dhaka is its capital and largest city , followed by Chittagong , which has the country 's largest port .   Bangladesh forms the largest and eastern part of the Bengal region . Bangladeshis include people of different ethnic groups and religions . Bengalis , who speak the official Bengali language , make up 98 % of the population . The politically dominant Bengali Muslims make the nation the world 's third largest Muslim-majority country . Most of Bangladesh is covered by the Bengal delta , the largest delta on Earth . The country has 700 rivers and 8,046 km ( 5,000 miles ) of inland waterways . Highlands with evergreen forests are found in the northeastern and southeastern regions of the country . Bangladesh has many islands and a coral reef . It is home to the Sundarbans , the largest mangrove forest in the world . The country 's biodiversity includes a vast array of plant and wildlife , including critically endangered Bengal tigers , the national animal .   The Greeks and Romans identified the region as Gangaridai , a powerful kingdom of the historical subcontinent , in the 3rd century BCE . Archaeological research has unearthed several ancient cities in Bangladesh , which had international trade links for millennia . The Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal transformed the region into a cosmopolitan Islamic imperial power between the 14th and 18th centuries . The region was home to many principalities that had inland naval prowess . It was also a notable center of the worldwide muslin and silk trade . As part of British India , the region was influenced by the Bengali renaissance and played an important role in anti-colonial movements . The Partition of British India made East Bengal a part of the Dominion of Pakistan ; and was renamed as East Pakistan . The region witnessed the Bengali Language Movement in 1952 and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 . After independence , a parliamentary republic was established . A presidential government was in place between 1975 and 1990 , followed by a return to parliamentary democracy . The country has also been affected by poverty , natural disasters , hunger , dominant party systems and military coups .   Bangladesh is a middle power and a major developing nation . Within South Asia , the country ranks first in gender equality , second in foreign exchange earnings and third in life expectancy and peacefulness . Listed as one of the Next Eleven , its economy ranks 46th in terms of nominal gross domestic product ( GDP ) and 29th in terms of purchasing power parity ( PPP ) . It is one of the largest textile exporters in the world . Its major trading partners are the European Union , the United States , China , India , Japan , Malaysia and Singapore . With its strategically vital location between Southern , Eastern and Southeast Asia , Bangladesh is an important promoter of regional connectivity and cooperation . It is a founding member of SAARC , BIMSTEC , the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation and the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Initiative . It is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , the Developing 8 Countries , the OIC , the Non Aligned Movement , the Group of 77 and the World Trade Organization . Bangladesh is one of the largest contributors to United Nations peacekeeping forces .


Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II ( -LSB- bəˈrɑːk_huːˈseɪn_oʊˈbɑːmə -RSB- ; born August 4 , 1961 ) is an American politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017 . He is the first African American to have served as president . He previously served in the U.S. Senate representing Illinois from 2005 to 2008 , and in the Illinois State Senate from 1997 to 2004 .   Obama was born in Honolulu , Hawaii , two years after the territory was admitted to the Union as the 50th state . Raised largely in Hawaii , Obama also spent one year of his childhood in Washington State and four years in Indonesia . After graduating from Columbia University in 1983 , he worked as a community organizer in Chicago . In 1988 Obama enrolled in Harvard Law School , where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review . After graduation , he became a civil rights attorney and professor , teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004 . Obama represented the 13th District for three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004 , when he ran for the U.S. Senate . Obama received national attention in 2004 , with his unexpected March primary win , his well-received July Democratic National Convention keynote address , and his landslide November election to the Senate . In 2008 , Obama was nominated for president , a year after his campaign began , and after a close primary campaign against Hillary Clinton . He was elected over Republican John McCain , and was inaugurated on January 20 , 2009 . Nine months later , Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate .   During his first two years in office , Obama signed many landmark bills . Main reforms were the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ( often referred to as `` Obamacare '' ) , the Dodd -- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act , and the Do n't Ask , Do n't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 . The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and Tax Relief , Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization , and Job Creation Act of 2010 served as economic stimulus amidst the Great Recession , but the GOP regained control of the House of Representatives in 2011 . After a lengthy debate over the national debt limit , Obama signed the Budget Control and the American Taxpayer Relief Acts . In foreign policy , Obama increased U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan , reduced nuclear weapons with the U.S.-Russian New START treaty , and ended military involvement in the Iraq War . He ordered military involvement in Libya in opposition to Muammar Gaddafi , and the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden .   After winning re-election by defeating Republican nominee Mitt Romney , Obama was sworn in for a second term in 2013 . During his second term , Obama promoted greater inclusiveness for LGBT Americans , with his administration filing briefs that urged the Supreme Court to strike down same-sex marriage bans as unconstitutional ( United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges ) . Obama also advocated gun control in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting , and issued wide-ranging executive actions concerning climate change and immigration . In foreign policy , Obama ordered military intervention in Iraq in response to gains made by ISIL after the 2011 withdrawal from Iraq , continued the process of ending U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan , promoted discussions that led to the 2015 Paris Agreement on global climate change , initiated the sanctions against Russia following the invasion in Ukraine , brokered a nuclear deal with Iran , and normalized U.S. relations with Cuba .   Obama left office in January 2017 with a 60 % approval rating . He currently resides in Washington , D.C. His presidential library will be built in Chicago .


Barrier island

Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast . They usually occur in chains , consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen . They are subject to change during storms and other action , but absorb energy and protect the coastlines and create areas of protected waters where wetlands may flourish . A barrier chain may extend uninterrupted for over a hundred kilometers , excepting the tidal inlets that separate the islands , the longest and widest being Padre Island of Texas . The length and width of barriers and overall morphology of barrier coasts are related to parameters including tidal range , wave energy , sediment supply , sea-level trends , and basement controls . The amount of vegetation on the barrier has a large impact on the height and evolution of the island .   Chains of barrier islands can be found along approximately thirteen percent of the world 's coastlines . They display different settings , suggesting that they can form and be maintained in a variety of environmental settings . Numerous theories have been given to explain their formation .


Base load

The base load on a grid is the minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time , for example , one week . Base load power sources are power stations which can economically generate the electrical power needed to satisfy this minimum demand . Because they have a relatively high annual contribution to the energy supply , they are designed with features to minimize fuel cost . Daily peaks in grid load are met with generating plants that may have higher fuel costs , but which operate for only a part of a day .


Battle of the Coral Sea

The Battle of the Coral Sea , fought from 4 to 8 May 1942 , was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy ( IJN ) and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia , taking place in the Pacific Theater of World War II . The battle is historically significant as the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other , as well as the first in which neither side 's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other .   In an attempt to strengthen its defensive position in the South Pacific , Japan decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby ( in New Guinea ) and Tulagi ( in the southeastern Solomon Islands ) . The plan to accomplish this was called Operation MO , and involved several major units of Japan 's Combined Fleet . These included two fleet carriers and a light carrier to provide air cover for the invasion forces . It was under the overall command of Japanese Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue .   The U.S. learned of the Japanese plan through signals intelligence , and sent two United States Navy carrier task forces and a joint Australian-American cruiser force to oppose the offensive . These were under the overall command of American Admiral Frank J. Fletcher .   On 3 -- 4 May , Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi , although several of their supporting warships were sunk or damaged in surprise attacks by aircraft from the U.S. fleet carrier . Now aware of the presence of U.S. carriers in the area , the Japanese fleet carriers advanced towards the Coral Sea with the intention of locating and destroying the Allied naval forces . Beginning on 7 May , the carrier forces from the two sides engaged in airstrikes over two consecutive days . On the first day , the U.S. sank the Japanese light carrier ; meanwhile , the Japanese sank a U.S. destroyer and heavily damaged a fleet oiler ( which was later scuttled ) . The next day , the Japanese fleet carrier was heavily damaged , the U.S. fleet carrier critically damaged ( and later scuttled ) , and Yorktown damaged . With both sides having suffered heavy losses in aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk , the two forces disengaged and retired from the battle area . Because of the loss of carrier air cover , Inoue recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet , intending to try again later .   Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk , the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies for several reasons . The battle marked the first time since the start of the war that a major Japanese advance had been checked by the Allies . More importantly , the Japanese fleet carriers Shōkaku and -- the former damaged and the latter with a depleted aircraft complement -- were unable to participate in the Battle of Midway the following month , while Yorktown did participate , ensuring a rough parity in aircraft between the two adversaries and contributing significantly to the U.S. victory in that battle . The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from reattempting to invade Port Moresby from the ocean and helped prompt their ill-fated land offensive over the Kokoda trail . Two months later , the Allies took advantage of Japan 's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched the Guadalcanal Campaign ; this , along with the New Guinea Campaign , eventually broke Japanese defenses in the South Pacific and was a significant contributing factor to Japan 's ultimate defeat in World War II .


Beach nourishment

Beach nourishment ( also referred to as beach renourishment , beach replenishment , or sand replenishment ) describes a process by which sediment , usually sand , lost through longshore drift or erosion is replaced from other sources . A wider beach can reduce storm damage to coastal structures by dissipating energy across the surf zone , protecting upland structures and infrastructure from storm surges , tsunamis and unusually high tides . Beach nourishment is typically part of a larger coastal defense scheme . Nourishment is typically a repetitive process since it does not remove the physical forces that cause erosion but simply mitigates their effects .   The first nourishment project in the United States was at Coney Island , New York in 1922 and 1923 . It is now a common shore protection measure used by public and private entities .


Bearded seal

The bearded seal ( Erignathus barbatus ) , also called the square flipper seal , is a medium-sized pinniped that is found in and near to the Arctic Ocean . It gets its generic name from two Greek words ( eri and gnathos ) that refer to its heavy jaw . The other part of its Linnaean name means bearded and refers to its most characteristic feature , the conspicuous and very abundant whiskers . When dry , these whiskers curl very elegantly , giving the bearded seal a `` raffish '' look .   Fossils first described in 2002 indicated that , during the Pleistocene epoch , bearded seals ranged as far south as South Carolina .


Beaufort Sea

The Beaufort Sea ( mer de Beaufort ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean , located north of the Northwest Territories , the Yukon , and Alaska , west of Canada 's Arctic islands . The sea is named after hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort . The major Mackenzie River empties into the Canadian part of the sea , west of Tuktoyaktuk , which is one of the few permanent settlements on the sea shores .   The sea , characterized by severe climate , is frozen over most of the year . Historically , only a narrow pass up to 100 km opened in August -- September near its shores , but recently due to climate change in the Arctic the ice-free area in late summer has greatly enlarged . Claims that the seacoast was populated about 30,000 years ago have been largely discredited ( see below ) ; present population density is very low . The sea contains significant resources of petroleum and natural gas under its shelf , such as the Amauligak field . They were discovered in the period between the 1950s and 1980s , and their exploration became the major human activity in the area since the 1980s . The traditional occupations of fishery and whale and seal hunting are practiced only locally , and have no commercial significance . As a result , the sea hosts one of the largest colonies of beluga whales , and there is no sign of overfishing . To prevent overfishing in its waters , the US adopted precautionary commercial fisheries management plan in August 2009 . In April 2011 the Canadian government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Inuvialuit as a first step in developing a larger ocean management plan . The Canadian government announced in October 2014 that no new commercial fisheries in the Beaufort Sea will be considered until research has shown sustainable stocks that would be made available to Inuvialuit first .   The Canadian government has set a new block of the Beaufort Sea off the Parry Peninsula in the Amundsen as a Marine Protected Area ( MPA ) . The protected area is set to protect species and habits for the Inuvialuit community .


Beef

Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle , particularly skeletal muscle . Humans have been eating beef since prehistoric times . Beef is an excellent source of high-quality protein and essential nutrients .   Beef skeletal muscle meat can be cut into roasts , short ribs or steak ( filet mignon , sirloin steak , rump steak , rib steak , rib eye steak , hanger steak , etc. ) . Some cuts are processed ( corned beef or beef jerky ) , and trimmings , usually mixed with meat from older , leaner cattle , are ground , minced or used in sausages . The blood is used in some varieties of blood sausage . Other parts that are eaten include other muscles and offal , such as the oxtail , liver , tongue , tripe from the reticulum or rumen , glands ( particularly the pancreas and thymus , referred to as sweetbread ) , the heart , the brain ( although forbidden where there is a danger of bovine spongiform encephalopathy , BSE ) , the kidneys , and the tender testicles of the bull ( known in the United States as calf fries , prairie oysters , or Rocky Mountain oysters ) . Some intestines are cooked and eaten as-is , but are more often cleaned and used as natural sausage casings . The bones are used for making beef stock .   Beef from steers and heifers is very similar . According to the most recent National Beef Quality Audit , heifer carcasses had slightly more marbling than steer carcasses , but USDA quality grade was not significantly different . Depending on economics , the number of heifers kept for breeding varies . The meat from older bulls is usually tougher , so it is frequently used for mince ( known as ground beef in the United States ) . Cattle raised for beef may be allowed to roam free on grasslands , or may be confined at some stage in pens as part of a large feeding operation called a feedlot ( or concentrated animal feeding operation ) , where they are usually fed a ration of grain , protein , roughage and a vitamin/mineral preblend .   Beef is the third most widely consumed meat in the world , accounting for about 25 % of meat production worldwide , after pork and poultry at 38 % and 30 % respectively . In absolute numbers , the United States , Brazil , and the People 's Republic of China are the world 's three largest consumers of beef ; Uruguay , however , has the highest beef and veal consumption per capita , followed by Argentina and Brazil . According to the data from OECD , the average Uruguayan ate over 42 kg of beef or veal in 2014 , representing the highest beef/veal consumption per capita in the world . In comparison , the average American consumed only about 24 kg beef or veal in the same year , while African countries , such as Mozambique , Ghana , and Nigeria , consumed the least beef or veal per capita .   Cows are considered holy in the culture of India and there are restrictions on selling and consumption of beef in much of India . Though India is the largest producer and exporter of buffalo meat in the world .   In 2015 , the world 's largest exporters of beef , ( including buffalo meat ) , were India , Brazil and Australia . Beef production is also important to the economies of Uruguay , Canada , Paraguay , Mexico , Argentina , Belarus and Nicaragua .


Begging the question

To beg a question means to assume the conclusion of an argument -- a type of circular reasoning . This is an informal fallacy , in which an arguer includes the conclusion to be proven within a premise of the argument , often in an indirect way such that its presence within the premise is hidden or at least not easily apparent .   The term `` begging the question '' , as this is usually phrased , originated in the 16th century as a mistranslation of the Latin petitio principii , which actually translates as `` assuming the initial point '' . In modern vernacular usage , `` to beg the question '' is frequently used to mean `` to invite the question '' ( as in `` This begs the question of whether ... '' ) or `` to dodge a question '' . Many consider these usages incorrect in contexts that demand strict adherence to the technical definition .


Benny Peiser

Benny Josef Peiser ( born 1957 ) is a social anthropologist specialising in the environmental and socio-economic impact of physical activity on health . He was a senior lecturer in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University ( LJMU ) and is a visiting fellow at the University of Buckingham .   Peiser established the Cambridge Conference Network in 1997 . Peiser acknowledges that he is `` not a climate scientist '' and has `` never claimed to be one . '' His interest as a social anthropologist , is in `` how climate change is portrayed as a potential disaster and how we respond to that . ''   As an outspoken climate change sceptic , Peiser became director of the newly established UK lobbying group Global Warming Policy Foundation in 2009 . He serves as co-editor of the journal , Energy & Environment and is a regular contributor to Canada 's National Post.The National Post , former media magnate Conrad Black 's national flagship title was established to provide a voice for Canadian conservatives and to compete with Canada 's The Globe and Mail , the establishment newspaper with a liberal bias in Canadian newspapers . Outside Toronto , the National Post was built on the printing and distribution infrastructure of Black 's national newspaper chain , formerly called Southam Newspapers , that included papers such as the Ottawa Citizen , Montreal Gazette , Edmonton Journal , Calgary Herald , and Vancouver Sun and Benny Peiser continues to participate in stories with these newspapers as well .


Beringia

Beringia is defined today as the land and maritime area bounded on the west by the Lena River in Russia ; on the east by the Mackenzie River in Canada ; on the north by 72 degrees north latitude in the Chukchi Sea ; and on the south by the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula . It includes the Chukchi Sea , the Bering Sea , the Bering Strait , the Chukchi and Kamchatka Peninsulas in Russia as well as Alaska in the United States .   The area includes land lying on the North American Plate and Siberian land east of the Chersky Range . Historically , it formed a land bridge that was up to 1000 km wide at its greatest extent and which covered an area as large as British Columbia and Alberta together , totaling at approximately 1600000 km2 . Today , the only land that is visible from the central part of the Bering land bridge are the Diomede Islands , the Pribilof Islands of St. Paul and St. George , St. Lawrence Island , and King Island .   The term Beringia was coined by the Swedish botanist Eric Hultén in 1937 . During the ice ages , Beringia , like most of Siberia and all of North and Northeast China , was not glaciated because snowfall was very light . It was a grassland steppe , including the land bridge , that stretched for hundreds of kilometres into the continents on either side .   It is believed that a small human population of at most a few thousand arrived in Beringia from eastern Siberia during the Last Glacial Maximum before expanding into the settlement of the Americas sometime after 16,500 years ago during the Late Glacial Maximum as the American glaciers blocking the way southward melted , but before the bridge was covered by the sea about 11,000 years BP .   Before European colonization , Beringia was inhabited by the Yupik peoples on both sides of the straits . This culture remains in the region today along with others . In 2012 , the governments of Russia and the United States announced a plan to formally establish `` a transboundary area of shared Beringian heritage '' . Among other things this agreement would establish close ties between the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve and the Cape Krusenstern National Monument in the United States and the planned Beringia National Park in Russia .


Berlin

Berlin ( -LSB- bəɹˈlɪn -RSB- , -LSB- bɛɐ̯ˈliːn -RSB- ) is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its 16 constituent states . With a population of approximately 3.7 million , Berlin is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union . Located in northeastern Germany on the banks of the rivers Spree and Havel , it is the centre of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region , which has roughly 6 million residents from more than 180 nations . Due to its location in the European Plain , Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate . Around one-third of the city 's area is composed of forests , parks , gardens , rivers , canals and lakes .   First documented in the 13th century and situated at the crossing of two important historic trade routes , Berlin became the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg ( 14171701 ) , the Kingdom of Prussia ( 1701 -- 1918 ) , the German Empire ( 1871 -- 1918 ) , the Weimar Republic ( 1919 -- 1933 ) and the Third Reich ( 1933 -- 1945 ) . Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world . After World War II and its subsequent occupation by the victorious countries , the city was divided ; East Berlin was declared capital of East Germany , while West Berlin became a de facto West German exclave , surrounded by the Berlin Wall ( 1961 -- 1989 ) and East German territory . Following German reunification in 1990 , Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany .   Berlin is a world city of culture , politics , media and science . Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the service sector , encompassing a diverse range of creative industries , research facilities , media corporations and convention venues . Berlin serves as a continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network . The metropolis is a popular tourist destination . Significant industries also include IT , pharmaceuticals , biomedical engineering , clean tech , biotechnology , construction and electronics .   Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities , orchestras , museums , entertainment venues and is host to many sporting events . Its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions . The city is well known for its festivals , diverse architecture , nightlife , contemporary arts and a high quality of living . Since the 2000s Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene .


Bernie Sanders 2016 presidential campaign

In the 2016 presidential campaign, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders sought the Democratic Party's nomination in a field of six major candidates and was the runner up with 46% of the pledged delegates behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who won the contest with 54%. Sanders, the junior United States Senator and former Representative from Vermont, began with an informal announcement on April 30, 2015, and a formal announcement that he planned to seek the Democratic Party's nomination for President of the United States on May 26, 2015, in Burlington, Vermont. Sanders had been considered a potential candidate for president since at least September 2014. Though he had previously run as an independent, he routinely caucused with the Democratic Party, as many of his views align with Democrats. Running as a Democrat made it easier to participate in debates and get his name on state ballots.Sanders's chief competitor for the nomination was Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state. Sanders drew large crowds to his speaking events and his populist and social democratic politics won him particular support among Americans under 40. He performed strongly with white voters, but consistently trailed Clinton by 30 or more percentage points among black voters; polls showed a close race among Hispanic voters.Sanders focused on income and wealth inequality, which he argued is eroding the American middle class, and on campaign finance reform. Unlike most other major presidential candidates, Sanders eschewed an unlimited super PAC, instead choosing to receive most of his funding from direct individual campaign donations. In September 2015, The New York Times reported that the campaign had received one million individual donations, becoming the first in 2015 to reach that threshold.  Sanders raised $20,000,000 in the month of January 2016, $5,000,000 more than Clinton during the same time period, with an average donation of $27. Sanders frequently mentioned this $27 figure on the campaign trail as proof of his grassroots support.Following the final primary election (the District of Columbia's, on June 14), Clinton became the presumptive Democratic nominee. Sanders did then endorse Clinton, and said he would work with her to defeat the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump. On June 16, Sanders gave a live online speech to his supporters, saying, "The political revolution continues". On July 12, Sanders officially endorsed Clinton at a unity rally with her in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. On July 22, 2016, various emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the governing body of the Democratic Party, were leaked and published, revealing bias against the Sanders campaign on the part of the Committee and its chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Schultz subsequently resigned as DNC chair and was replaced by Donna Brazile, who was also implicated in the leaks and apologized to Sanders and his supporters. In the Democratic National Convention roll-call vote on July 26, 2016, Sanders received 1,865 votes (39% of the vote), which consisted of 1,848 pledged delegates won in primary and caucus contests (46% of the total) and 17 superdelegates (4%). After the roll call, Sanders put forward a motion to formally nominate Clinton, which passed by voice vote.


Big data

Big data is a term for data sets that are so large or complex that traditional data processing application software is inadequate to deal with them . Challenges include capture , storage , analysis , data curation , search , sharing , transfer , visualization , querying , updating and information privacy . The term `` big data '' often refers simply to the use of predictive analytics , user behavior analytics , or certain other advanced data analytics methods that extract value from data , and seldom to a particular size of data set . `` There is little doubt that the quantities of data now available are indeed large , but that 's not the most relevant characteristic of this new data ecosystem . ''  Analysis of data sets can find new correlations to `` spot business trends , prevent diseases , combat crime and so on . '' Scientists , business executives , practitioners of medicine , advertising and governments alike regularly meet difficulties with large data-sets in areas including Internet search , fintech , urban informatics , and business informatics . Scientists encounter limitations in e-Science work , including meteorology , genomics , connectomics , complex physics simulations , biology and environmental research .   Data sets grow rapidly - in part because they are increasingly gathered by cheap and numerous information-sensing Internet of things devices such as mobile devices , aerial ( remote sensing ) , software logs , cameras , microphones , radio-frequency identification ( RFID ) readers and wireless sensor networks . The world 's technological per-capita capacity to store information has roughly doubled every 40 months since the 1980s ; , every day 2.5 exabytes ( 2.5 × 1018 ) of data are generated . One question for large enterprises is determining who should own big-data initiatives that affect the entire organization .   Relational database management systems and desktop statistics - and visualization-packages often have difficulty handling big data . The work may require `` massively parallel software running on tens , hundreds , or even thousands of servers '' . What counts as `` big data '' varies depending on the capabilities of the users and their tools , and expanding capabilities make big data a moving target . `` For some organizations , facing hundreds of gigabytes of data for the first time may trigger a need to reconsider data management options . For others , it may take tens or hundreds of terabytes before data size becomes a significant consideration . ''


Bikini Atoll

Bikini Atoll ( pronounced -LSB- ˈbɪkᵻˌniː -RSB- or -LSB- bᵻˈkiːni -RSB- Marshallese : Pikinni , -LSB- pyuhKhuy ( n ) n ^ : yuyuy -RSB- , meaning coconut place ) is an atoll in the Marshall Islands which consists of 23 islands totaling 3.4 sqmi surrounding a deep 229.4 sqmi central lagoon . It is at the northern end of the Ralik Chain , approximately 87 km northwest of Ailinginae Atoll and 850 km northwest of Majuro . Within Bikini Atoll , Bikini , Eneu , Nam , and Enidrik islands comprise just over 70 % of the land area . Bikini and Eneu are the only islands of the atoll that hosted a permanent population . Bikini Island is the northeastern most and largest islet . Before World War II , the atoll was known by its German name , Eschscholtz Atoll .


Biodiesel

Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil - or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl ( methyl , ethyl , or propyl ) esters . Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids ( e.g. , vegetable oil , soybean oil , animal fat ( tallow ) ) with an alcohol producing fatty acid esters .   Biodiesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils used to fuel converted diesel engines . Biodiesel can be used alone , or blended with petrodiesel in any proportions . Biodiesel blends can also be used as heating oil .   The National Biodiesel Board ( USA ) also has a technical definition of `` biodiesel '' as a mono-alkyl ester .


Biodiversity

Biodiversity a portmanteau of `` biological diversity , '' generally refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth . According to the United Nations Environment Programme , biodiversity typically measures variation at the genetic , the species , and the ecosystem level . Terrestrial biodiversity tends to be greater near the equator , which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity . Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth , and is richest in the tropics . These tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10 per cent of earth 's surface , and contain about 90 percent of the world 's species . Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along coasts in the Western Pacific , where sea surface temperature is highest and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans . There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity . Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in hotspots , and has been increasing through time , but will be likely to slow in the future .   Rapid environmental changes typically cause mass extinctions . More than 99.9 percent of all species , amounting to over five billion species , that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct . Estimates on the number of Earth 's current species range from 10 million to 14 million , of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described . More recently , in May 2016 , scientists reported that 1 trillion species are estimated to be on Earth currently with only one-thousandth of one percent described . The total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 1037 and weighs 50 billion tonnes . In comparison , the total mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as 4 TtC ( trillion tons of carbon ) . In July 2016 , scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the Last Universal Common Ancestor ( LUCA ) of all organisms living on Earth .   The age of the Earth is about 4.54 billion years old . The earliest undisputed evidence of life on Earth dates at least from 3.5 billion years ago , during the Eoarchean Era after a geological crust started to solidify following the earlier molten Hadean Eon . There are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone discovered in Western Australia . Other early physical evidence of a biogenic substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old meta-sedimentary rocks discovered in Western Greenland . More recently , in 2015 , `` remains of biotic life '' were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia . According to one of the researchers , `` If life arose relatively quickly on Earth . . then it could be common in the universe . ''   Since life began on Earth , five major mass extinctions and several minor events have led to large and sudden drops in biodiversity . The Phanerozoic eon ( the last 540 million years ) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosion -- a period during which the majority of multicellular phyla first appeared . The next 400 million years included repeated , massive biodiversity losses classified as mass extinction events . In the Carboniferous , rainforest collapse led to a great loss of plant and animal life . The Permian -- Triassic extinction event , 251 million years ago , was the worst ; vertebrate recovery took 30 million years . The most recent , the Cretaceous -- Paleogene extinction event , occurred 65 million years ago and has often attracted more attention than others because it resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs .   The period since the emergence of humans has displayed an ongoing biodiversity reduction and an accompanying loss of genetic diversity . Named the Holocene extinction , the reduction is caused primarily by human impacts , particularly habitat destruction . Conversely , biodiversity impacts human health in a number of ways , both positively and negatively .   The United Nations designated 2011 -- 2020 as the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity .


Biogas

Biogas typically refers to a mixture of different gases produced by the breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen . Biogas can be produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste , manure , municipal waste , plant material , sewage , green waste or food waste . Biogas is a renewable energy source .   Biogas can be produced by anaerobic digestion with anaerobic organisms , which digest material inside a closed system , or fermentation of biodegradable materials .   Biogas is primarily methane and carbon dioxide and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulfide , moisture and siloxanes . The gases methane , hydrogen , and carbon monoxide can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen . This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel ; it can be used for any heating purpose , such as cooking . It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into electricity and heat .   Biogas can be compressed , the same way natural gas is compressed to CNG , and used to power motor vehicles . In the UK , for example , biogas is estimated to have the potential to replace around 17 % of vehicle fuel . It qualifies for renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world . Biogas can be cleaned and upgraded to natural gas standards , when it becomes bio-methane . Biogas is considered to be a renewable resource because its production-and-use cycle is continuous , and it generates no net carbon dioxide . Organic material grows , is converted and used and then regrows in a continually repeating cycle . From a carbon perspective , as much carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere in the growth of the primary bio-resource as is released when the material is ultimately converted to energy .


Bioterrorism

Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents . These agents are bacteria , viruses , or toxins , and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form . For the use of this method in warfare , see biological warfare .


Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research

The Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research is a climate research centre in Bergen , Norway . The centre has a special focus on Northern Europe and the Polar regions .   The centre was started in 2000 and is a co-operation between University of Bergen , Institute of Marine Research , the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center and Uni Research . The centre was part of Research Council of Norway 's Centre of Excellence program from 2003 to 2013 . Eystein Jansen headed the centre from 2000 to 2013 , while Tore Furevik has been director since 2014 .   Researchers from the Bjerknes Centre have taken part in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports ; Eystein Jansen as one of the lead authors in the fourth report and upcoming fifth report .   It is named after Vilhelm Bjerknes and his son Jacob Bjerknes .


Bjørn Lomborg

Bjørn Lomborg ( -LSB- bjɶɐ̯n ˈlʌmbɒˀw -RSB- ; born 6 January 1965 ) is a Danish author and adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School as well as President of the Copenhagen Consensus Center . He is former director of the Danish government 's Environmental Assessment Institute ( EAI ) in Copenhagen . He became internationally known for his best-selling and controversial book , The Skeptical Environmentalist ( 2001 ) , in which he argues that many of the costly measures and actions adopted by scientists and policy makers to meet the challenges of global warming will ultimately have minimal impact on the world 's rising temperature .   In 2002 , Lomborg and the Environmental Assessment Institute founded the Copenhagen Consensus , a project-based conference where prominent economists sought to establish priorities for advancing global welfare using methods based on the theory of welfare economics .   In 2009 , Business Insider cited Lomborg as one of `` The 10 Most-Respected Global Warming Skeptics '' . While Lomborg campaigned against the Kyoto Protocol and other measures to cut carbon emissions in the short-term , he argued for adaptation to short-term temperature rises , and for spending money on research and development for longer-term environmental solutions . His issue is not with the reality of climate change , but rather with the economic and political approaches being taken ( or not taken ) to meet the challenges of that climate change . He is a strong advocate for focusing attention and resources on what he perceives as far more pressing world problems , such as AIDS , malaria and malnutrition . In his critique of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , Lomborg stated : `` Global warming is by no means our main environmental threat . '' In 2011 and 2012 , Lomborg was named a Top 100 Global Thinker by Foreign Policy `` for looking more right than ever on the politics of climate change '' .


Black carbon

Chemically , black carbon ( BC ) is a component of fine particulate matter ( PM ≤ 2.5 µm in aerodynamic diameter ) . Black carbon consists of pure carbon in several linked forms . It is formed through the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels , biofuel , and biomass , and is emitted in both anthropogenic and naturally occurring soot .   Black carbon causes human morbidity and premature mortality .   In climatology , black carbon is a climate forcing agent . Black carbon warms the Earth by absorbing sunlight and heating the atmosphere and by reducing albedo when deposited on snow and ice ( direct effects ) and indirectly by interaction with clouds , with the total forcing of 1.1 W/m2 . Black carbon stays in the atmosphere for only several days to weeks , whereas carbon dioxide has an atmospheric lifetime of more than 100 years .   The term black carbon is also used in soil sciences and geology , referring either to deposited atmospheric black carbon or to directly incorporated black carbon from vegetation fires . Especially in the tropics , black carbon in soils significantly contributes to fertility as it is able to absorb important plant nutrients .


Black hole

A black hole is a region of spacetime exhibiting such strong gravitational effects that nothing -- not even particles and electromagnetic radiation such as light -- can escape from inside it . The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can deform spacetime to form a black hole . The boundary of the region from which no escape is possible is called the event horizon . Although the event horizon has an enormous effect on the fate and circumstances of an object crossing it , no locally detectable features appear to be observed . In many ways a black hole acts like an ideal black body , as it reflects no light . Moreover , quantum field theory in curved spacetime predicts that event horizons emit Hawking radiation , with the same spectrum as a black body of a temperature inversely proportional to its mass . This temperature is on the order of billionths of a kelvin for black holes of stellar mass , making it essentially impossible to observe .   Objects whose gravitational fields are too strong for light to escape were first considered in the 18th century by John Michell and Pierre-Simon Laplace . The first modern solution of general relativity that would characterize a black hole was found by Karl Schwarzschild in 1916 , although its interpretation as a region of space from which nothing can escape was first published by David Finkelstein in 1958 . Black holes were long considered a mathematical curiosity ; it was during the 1960s that theoretical work showed they were a generic prediction of general relativity . The discovery of neutron stars sparked interest in gravitationally collapsed compact objects as a possible astrophysical reality .   Black holes of stellar mass are expected to form when very massive stars collapse at the end of their life cycle . After a black hole has formed , it can continue to grow by absorbing mass from its surroundings . By absorbing other stars and merging with other black holes , supermassive black holes of millions of solar masses may form . There is general consensus that supermassive black holes exist in the centers of most galaxies .   Despite its invisible interior , the presence of a black hole can be inferred through its interaction with other matter and with electromagnetic radiation such as visible light . Matter that falls onto a black hole can form an external accretion disk heated by friction , forming some of the brightest objects in the universe . If there are other stars orbiting a black hole , their orbits can be used to determine the black hole 's mass and location . Such observations can be used to exclude possible alternatives such as neutron stars . In this way , astronomers have identified numerous stellar black hole candidates in binary systems , and established that the radio source known as Sagittarius A * , at the core of our own Milky Way galaxy , contains a supermassive black hole of about 4.3 million solar masses .   On 11 February 2016 , the LIGO collaboration announced the first observation of gravitational waves ; because these waves were generated from a black hole merger it was the first ever direct detection of a binary black hole merger . On 15 June 2016 , a second detection of a gravitational wave event from colliding black holes was announced .


Boeing

The Boeing Company ( -LSB- ˈboʊ.ɪŋ -RSB- ) is an American multinational corporation that designs , manufactures , and sells airplanes , rotorcraft , rockets , and satellites worldwide . The company also provides leasing and product support services . Boeing is among the largest global aircraft manufacturers ; it is the second-largest defense contractor in the world based on 2015 revenue , and is the largest exporter in the United States by dollar value . Boeing stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average .   The Boeing Company 's corporate headquarters are located in Chicago and the company is led by President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg . Boeing is organized into five primary divisions : Boeing Commercial Airplanes ( BCA ) ; Boeing Defense , Space & Security ( BDS ) ; Engineering , Operations & Technology ; Boeing Capital ; and Boeing Shared Services Group . In 2015 , Boeing recorded $ 96.11 billion in sales , ranked 27th on the Fortune magazine `` Fortune 500 '' list ( 2015 ) , ranked 90th on the `` Fortune Global 500 '' list ( 2015 ) , and ranked 27th on the `` World 's Most Admired Companies '' list ( 2015 ) .


Botany

Botany , also called plant science ( s ) , plant biology or phytology , is the science of plant life and a branch of biology . A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who specialises in this field . The term `` botany '' comes from the Ancient Greek word βοτάνη ( botanē ) meaning `` pasture '' , `` grass '' , or `` fodder '' ; βοτάνη is in turn derived from βόσκειν ( boskein ) , `` to feed '' or `` to graze '' . Traditionally , botany has also included the study of fungi and algae by mycologists and phycologists respectively , with the study of these three groups of organisms remaining within the sphere of interest of the International Botanical Congress . Nowadays , botanists ( in the strict sense ) study approximately 410,000 species of land plants of which some 391,000 species are vascular plants ( including ca 369,000 species of flowering plants ) , and ca 20,000 are bryophytes .   Botany originated in prehistory as herbalism with the efforts of early humans to identify -- and later cultivate -- edible , medicinal and poisonous plants , making it one of the oldest branches of science . Medieval physic gardens , often attached to monasteries , contained plants of medical importance . They were forerunners of the first botanical gardens attached to universities , founded from the 1540s onwards . One of the earliest was the Padua botanical garden . These gardens facilitated the academic study of plants . Efforts to catalogue and describe their collections were the beginnings of plant taxonomy , and led in 1753 to the binomial system of Carl Linnaeus that remains in use to this day .   In the 19th and 20th centuries , new techniques were developed for the study of plants , including methods of optical microscopy and live cell imaging , electron microscopy , analysis of chromosome number , plant chemistry and the structure and function of enzymes and other proteins . In the last two decades of the 20th century , botanists exploited the techniques of molecular genetic analysis , including genomics and proteomics and DNA sequences to classify plants more accurately .   Modern botany is a broad , multidisciplinary subject with inputs from most other areas of science and technology . Research topics include the study of plant structure , growth and differentiation , reproduction , biochemistry and primary metabolism , chemical products , development , diseases , evolutionary relationships , systematics , and plant taxonomy . Dominant themes in 21st century plant science are molecular genetics and epigenetics , which are the mechanisms and control of gene expression during differentiation of plant cells and tissues . Botanical research has diverse applications in providing staple foods , materials such as timber , oil , rubber , fibre and drugs , in modern horticulture , agriculture and forestry , plant propagation , breeding and genetic modification , in the synthesis of chemicals and raw materials for construction and energy production , in environmental management , and the maintenance of biodiversity .


Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water , usually by baking . Throughout recorded history it has been popular around the world and is one of the oldest artificial foods , having been of importance since the dawn of agriculture .   Proportions of types of flour and other ingredients vary widely , as do modes of preparation . As a result , types , shapes , sizes , and textures of breads differ around the world . Bread may be leavened by processes such as reliance on naturally occurring sourdough microbes , chemicals , industrially produced yeast , or high-pressure aeration . Some bread is cooked before it can leaven , including for traditional or religious reasons . Non-cereal ingredients such as fruits , nuts and fats may be included . Commercial bread commonly contains additives to improve flavor , texture , color , shelf life , and ease of manufacturing .   Bread is served in various forms with any meal of the day . It is eaten as a snack , and used as an ingredient in other culinary preparations , such as sandwiches , and fried items coated in bread crumbs to prevent sticking . It forms the bland main component of bread pudding , as well as of stuffings designed to fill cavities or retain juices that otherwise might drip out .   Bread has a social and emotional significance beyond its importance as nourishment . It plays essential roles in religious rituals and secular culture . Its prominence in daily life is reflected in language , where it appears in proverbs , colloquial expressions ( `` He stole the bread from my mouth '' ) , in prayer ( `` Give us this day our daily bread '' ) and in the etymology of words , such as `` companion '' ( from Latin com `` with '' + panis `` bread '' ) .


Breathing

Breathing is the process that moves air in and out of the lungs , to allow the diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide to and from the external environment into and out of the blood . `` Breathing '' sometimes also refers to the equivalent process using other respiratory organs such as gills in fish and spiracles in certain arthropods . For organisms with lungs , breathing is also called ventilation , which consists of inhalation ( breathing in ) and exhalation ( breathing out ) . Breathing is one part of physiological respiration required to sustain life . Aerobic organisms ( all animals , most plants and many micro-organisms ) require oxygen at cellular level to release energy by metabolizing energy-rich molecules such as fatty acids and glucose . This is often referred to as cellular respiration . Breathing is only one of the processes that delivers oxygen to where it is needed in the body and removes excess carbon dioxide . After breathing , the next process in this chain of events is the transport of these gases throughout the body by the circulatory system , and then their uptake or release from the respiring cells . Breathing fulfills another vital function : that of regulating the pH of the extracellular fluids of the body . It is , in fact , this homeostatic function which determines the rate and depth of breathing . The medical term for normal relaxed breathing is eupnea .   At the end of each exhalation the adult human lungs still contain 2.5 -- 3.0 liters of air , termed the functional residual capacity ( FRC ) . Breathing replaces only about 15 % of this volume of gas with moistened ambient air with each breath . This ensures that the composition of the FRC changes very little during the breathing cycle , and remains significantly different from the composition of the ambient air . The partial pressures of the gases in the blood flowing through the alveolar capillaries equilibrate with the partial pressures of the gases in the FRC , ensuring that the partial pressures of carbon dioxide , and oxygen of the arterial blood , and therefore its pH , remain constant . The equilibration of the gases in the alveolar blood with those in the alveolar air ( i.e. the gas exchange between the two ) occurs by passive diffusion .   Breathing is used for a number of subsidiary functions , such as speech , expression of the emotions ( e.g. laughing . yawning etc. ) , self-maintenance activities ( coughing and sneezing etc. ) and , in animals that can not sweat through the skin , panting .


British Columbia

British Columbia ( BC ) is the westernmost province of Canada , with a population of more than four million people located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains .  British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion , along with the U.S. states of Idaho , Oregon , Washington , Alaska , and western Montana .   The first British settlement in the area was Fort Victoria , established in 1843 , which gave rise to the city of Victoria , at first the capital of the separate Colony of Vancouver Island . Subsequently , on the mainland , the Colony of British Columbia ( 1858 -- 66 ) was founded by Richard Clement Moody and the Royal Engineers , Columbia Detachment , in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . Moody was Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works for the Colony and the first Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia : he was hand-picked by the Colonial Office in London to transform British Columbia into the British Empire 's `` bulwark in the farthest west '' , and `` to found a second England on the shores of the Pacific '' . Moody selected the site for and founded the original capital of British Columbia , New Westminster , established the Cariboo Road and Stanley Park , and designed the first version of the Coat of arms of British Columbia . Port Moody is named after him .   In 1866 , Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia , and Victoria became the united colony 's capital . In 1871 , British Columbia became the sixth province of Canada . Its Latin motto is Splendor sine occasu ( `` Splendour without Diminishment '' ) .   The capital of British Columbia remains Victoria , the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada , named for the Queen who created the original European colonies . The largest city is Vancouver , the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada , the largest in Western Canada , and the third-largest in the Pacific Northwest . In October 2013 , British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,606,371 ( about 2.5 million of whom were in Greater Vancouver ) . The province is currently governed by the BC Liberal Party , led by Premier Christy Clark , who became leader as a result of a leadership convention vote on February 26 , 2011 , and who led her party to an election victory on May 14 , 2013 .   British Columbia evolved from British possessions that were established in what is now British Columbia by 1871 . First Nations , the original inhabitants of the land , have a history of at least 10,000 years in the area . Today there are few treaties and the question of Aboriginal Title , long ignored , has become a legal and political question of frequent debate as a result of recent court actions . Notably , the Tsilhqot ` in Nation has established Aboriginal title to a portion of their territory , as a result of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision ( William -LSB- Tsilhqot ` in Nation -RSB- v. British Columbia ) .   BC 's economy is diverse , with service producing industries accounting for the largest portion of the province 's GDP . It is the endpoint of transcontinental railways , and the site of major Pacific ports that enable international trade . Though less than 5 % of its vast 944735 km2 land is arable , the province is agriculturally rich ( particularly in the Fraser and Okanagan valleys ) , because of milder weather near the coast and in certain sheltered southern valleys . Its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism , though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction , principally logging , farming , and mining . Vancouver , the province 's largest city and metropolitan area , also serves as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies . It also benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the national average . While the coast of British Columbia and certain valleys in the south-central part of the province have mild weather , the majority of its land mass experiences a cold-winter-temperate climate similar to that of the rest of Canada . The Northern Interior region has a subarctic climate with very cold winters . The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Canadian cities , with nighttime January temperatures averaging above the freezing point .