Mississippi

Mississippi -LSB- mɪsᵻˈsɪpi -RSB- is a state in the southern region of the United States , with part of its southern border formed by the Gulf of Mexico . Its western border is formed by the Mississippi River .   The state has a population of approximately 3 million . It is the 32nd most extensive and the 32nd most populous of the 50 United States . Located in the center of the state , Jackson is the state capital and largest city , with a population of approximately 175,000 people .   The state is heavily forested outside of the Mississippi Delta area , between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers . Before the American Civil War , most development in the state was along riverfronts , where slaves worked on cotton plantations . After the war , the bottomlands to the interior were cleared , mostly by freedmen . By the end of the 19th century , African Americans made up two-thirds of the Delta 's property owners , but timber and railroad companies acquired much of the land after a financial crisis .   Clearing altered the Delta 's ecology , increasing the severity of flooding along the Mississippi . Much land is now held by agribusinesses . A largely rural state with agricultural areas dominated by industrial farms , Mississippi is ranked low or last among the states in such measures as health , educational attainment , and median household income . The state 's catfish aquaculture farms produce the majority of farm-raised catfish consumed in the United States .   Since the 1930s and the Great Migration , Mississippi has been majority white , albeit with the highest percentage of black residents of any U.S. state . From the early 19th century to the 1930s , its residents were mostly black , a population that before the American Civil War was composed largely of African slaves . Whites retained political power through Jim Crow laws . In the first half of the 20th century , nearly 400,000 rural blacks left the state for work and opportunities in northern and midwestern cities , with another wave of migration around World War II to West Coast cities . In 2010 , 37 % of Mississippians were African Americans , the highest percentage of African Americans in any U.S. state . Since gaining enforcement of their voting franchise in the late 1960s , most African Americans support Democratic candidates in local , state and national elections . Conservative whites have shifted to the Republican Party . African Americans are a majority in many counties of the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta , an area of historic settlement during the plantation era . Since 2011 Mississippi has been ranked as the most religious state in the country .


Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet Canal

The Mississippi River -- Gulf Outlet Canal ( abbreviated as MRGO or MR-GO ) is a 76 mi channel constructed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers at the direction of Congress in the mid-20th century that provided a shorter route between the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans ' inner harbor Industrial Canal via the Intracoastal Waterway . In 2005 , although disputed by the Corps of Engineers , the MRGO channeled Hurricane Katrina 's storm surge into the heart of Greater New Orleans , contributing significantly to the subsequent multiple engineering failures experienced by the region 's hurricane protection network . In the aftermath the channel was closed . A permanent storm surge barrier was constructed in the MRGO in 2009 , and the channel has been closed to maritime shipping .   The MRGO begins just east of I-510 's crossing of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in New Orleans East and takes a path SSE through St. Bernard Parish wetlands just west of Lake Borgne to the Gulf of Mexico near Gardner Island . Much criticized for its negative environmental effects , such as saltwater intrusion , wetlands erosion and storm surge amplification during Hurricane Katrina , the MRGO was closed in 2009 . Maritime traffic was barred on April 22 , 2009 .


Mitigation (law)

Mitigation in law is the principle that a party who has suffered loss ( from a tort or breach of contract ) has to take reasonable action to minimize the amount of the loss suffered . As stated by the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal in Redpath Industries Ltd. v.Cisco ( The ) , `` It is well established that a party who suffers damages as a result of a breach of contract has a duty to mitigate those damages , that is to say that the wrongdoer can not be called upon to pay for avoidable losses which would result in an increase in the quantum of damages payable to the injured party . '' The onus on showing a failure to mitigate damages is on the defendant .   For example , consider a tenant who signs an agreement to rent a house for a year , but moves out ( and stops paying rent ) after only one month . The landlord may be able to sue the tenant for breach of contract : however the landlord must mitigate damages by making a reasonable attempt to find a replacement tenant for the remainder of the year . The landlord may not simply let the house lie empty for eleven months and then sue the tenant for eleven months ' rent .   The actions of the defendant may also result in the mitigation of damages which would otherwise have been due to the successful plaintiff . For example , the Civil Law ( Wrongs ) Act 2002 ( ACT ) provides that mitigation of damages for the publication of defamatory matter may result from any apology made by a defendant and any correction published ( s. 139I ) .   The issue of what is reasonable is especially contentious in personal injury cases where the plaintiff refuses medical advice . This can be seen in cases such as Janiak v. Ippolito .  The antonym of mitigation is aggravation .


Models of communication

Models of communication are conceptual models used to explain the human communication process . The first major model for communication came in 1948 by Claude Elwood Shannon and published with an introduction by Warren Weaver for Bell Laboratories . Following the basic concept , communication is the process of sending and receiving messages or transferring information from one part ( sender ) to another ( receiver ) .


Models of scientific inquiry

In the philosophy of science , models of scientific inquiry have two functions : first , to provide a descriptive account of how scientific inquiry is carried out in practice , and second , to provide an explanatory account of why scientific inquiry succeeds as well as it appears to do in arriving at genuine knowledge .  The search for scientific knowledge extends far back into antiquity . At some point in the past , at least by the time of Aristotle , philosophers recognized that a fundamental distinction should be drawn between two kinds of scientific knowledge -- roughly , knowledge that and knowledge why . It is one thing to know that each planet periodically reverses the direction of its motion with respect to the background of fixed stars ; it is quite a different matter to know why . Knowledge of the former type is descriptive ; knowledge of the latter type is explanatory . It is explanatory knowledge that provides scientific understanding of the world . ( Salmon , 1990 )  `` Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work .


Modular multiplicative inverse

In mathematics , in particular , the area of number theory , a modular multiplicative inverse of an integer is an integer such that the product is congruent to 1 with respect to the modulus . In the standard notation of modular arithmetic this congruence is written as   which is the shorthand way of writing the statement that divides ( evenly ) the quantity , or , put another way , the remainder after dividing by the integer is 1 . If does have an inverse modulo there are an infinite number of solutions of this congruence which form a congruence class with respect to this modulus . Furthermore , any integer that is congruent to ( i.e. , in 's congruence class ) will have any element of 's congruence class as a modular multiplicative inverse . Using the notation of to indicate the congruence class containing , this can be expressed by saying that the modulo multiplicative inverse of the congruence class is the congruence class such that :   where the symbol denotes the multiplication of equivalence classes modulo .  Written in this way the analogy with the usual concept of a multiplicative inverse in the set of rational or real numbers is clearly represented , replacing the numbers by congruence classes and altering the binary operation appropriately .   As with the analogous operation on the real numbers , a fundamental use of this operation is in solving , when possible , linear congruences of the form ,   Finding modular multiplicative inverses also has practical applications in the field of cryptography , i.e. public-key cryptography and the RSA Algorithm . A benefit for the computer implementation of these applications is that there exists a very fast algorithm ( the extended Euclidean algorithm ) that can be used for the calculation of modular multiplicative inverses .   In mathematical theory , assumptions about the properties of binary operators ( for example the associative property and the commutative property ) are often used as axioms in fields of study such as number theory and also two sub-disciplines of abstract algebra , group theory and ring theory .


Monsoon

Monsoon ( UK : -LSB- mɒnˈsuːn -RSB- US : -LSB- mɑːnˈsuːn -RSB- ) is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation , but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea . Usually , the term monsoon is used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally changing pattern , although technically there is also a dry phase . The term is sometimes incorrectly used for locally heavy but short-term rains , although these rains meet the dictionary definition of monsoon .   The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the West African and Asia-Australian monsoons . The inclusion of the North and South American monsoons with incomplete wind reversal has been debated .   The term was first used in English in British India ( now India , Bangladesh and Pakistan ) and neighbouring countries to refer to the big seasonal winds blowing from the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea in the southwest bringing heavy rainfall to the area .


Monsoon of South Asia

The monsoon of South Asia is among several geographically distributed global monsoons . It affects the Indian subcontinent , where it is one of the oldest and most anticipated weather phenomena and an economically important pattern every year from June through September . Yet it is only partly understood and notoriously difficult to predict . Several theories have been proposed to explain the origin , process , strength , variability , distribution , and general vagaries of the monsoon , but understanding and predictability are still evolving .   The unique geographical features of the Indian subcontinent , along with associated atmospheric , oceanic , and geophysical factors , influence the behavior of the monsoon . Because of its effect on agriculture , on flora and fauna , and on the climates of nations such as Nepal , India , Bangladesh , Bhutan , Pakistan , and Sri Lanka -- among other economic , social , and environmental effects -- the monsoon is one of the most anticipated , tracked , and studied weather phenomena in the region . It has a significant effect on the overall well-being of residents and has even been dubbed the `` real finance minister of India . ''


Montclair, New Jersey

Montclair ( -LSB- mɒntˈklɛər -RSB- or -LSB- mɒŋˈklɛər -RSB- ) is a township in Essex County , New Jersey , United States . As of the 2010 United States Census , the township 's population was 37,669 , reflecting a decline of 1,308 ( -3.4 % ) from the 38,977 counted in the 2000 Census , which had in turn increased by 1,248 ( +3.3 % ) from the 37,729 counted in the 1990 Census . , it was the 60th-most-populous municipality in New Jersey .   Montclair was first formed as a township on April 15 , 1868 , from portions of Bloomfield Township , so that a second railroad could be built to Montclair . After a referendum held on February 21 , 1894 , Montclair was reincorporated as a town , effective February 24 , 1894 . It derives its name from the French mont clair , meaning `` clear mountain '' or `` bright mountain . ''   In 1980 , after multiple protests filed by Montclair officials regarding the inequities built into the federal revenue sharing system , Montclair passed a referendum changing its name to the `` Township of Montclair , '' becoming the third of more than a dozen Essex County municipalities to reclassify themselves as townships to take advantage of federal revenue sharing policies that allocated townships a greater share of government aid to municipalities on a per capita basis .


Month

A month is a unit of time , used with calendars , which is approximately as long as a natural period related to the motion of the Moon ; month and Moon are cognates . The traditional concept arose with the cycle of moon phases ; such months ( lunations ) are synodic months and last approximately 29.53 days . From excavated tally sticks , researchers have deduced that people counted days in relation to the Moon 's phases as early as the Paleolithic age . Synodic months , based on the Moon 's orbital period with respect to the Earth-Sun line , are still the basis of many calendars today , and are used to divide the year .


Montreal

Montreal ( -LSB- audio = Montreal-English-pronunciation . ogaˌmʌntriːˈɒl -RSB- ) , officially Montréal ( -LSB- mɔ̃ʁeal -RSB- ) , is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the 2nd-most populous in Canada , after Toronto . Originally called Ville-Marie , or `` City of Mary , '' it is believed to be named after Mount Royal , though there is some debate about this . The city has a distinct four-season continental climate , with warm-to-hot summers and cold , snowy winters .   In 2016 , Montreal had a population of 1,704,694 . Montreal 's metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927 and a population of 1,958,257 in the urban agglomeration , with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included . Legally a French-speaking city , 60.5 % of Montrealers speak French at home , 21.2 % speak English and 19.8 % speak neither . Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada , with 56 % of the population able to speak both official languages . Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris .   Historically the commercial capital of Canada , it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s . It remains an important centre of commerce , aerospace , finance , pharmaceuticals , technology , design , education , culture , tourism , gaming , film and world affairs . Being the location of the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization , Montreal is one of three North American cities home to organizations of the United Nations ( along with New York and Washington ) and also has the 2nd-highest number of consulates in the continent . Montreal was also named a UNESCO City of Design . In 2009 , Montreal was named North America 's leading host city for international association events , according to the 2009 preliminary rankings of the International Congress and Convention Association ( ICCA ) . According to the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit , Montreal ranked 14th out of 140 cities .   In the 2017 edition of their Best Student Cities ranking , Quacquarelli Symonds ( QS ) ranked Montreal as the world 's best city to study abroad . Also , Montreal has 11 universities with 170,000 students enrolled . The Greater Montreal region has the highest number of university students per capita among all metropolitan areas in North America . It even ranks higher than Boston , the intellectual capital of the U.S.   Montreal has hosted multiple international conferences and events throughout its history , including the 1967 International and Universal Exposition and the 1976 Summer Olympic Games . It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics . Currently , the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One , the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival . In 2012 , Montreal was ranked as a Beta + world city .


Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer ( a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer ) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion . It was agreed on 16 September 1987 , and entered into force on 01 January 1989 , followed by a first meeting in Helsinki , May 1989 . Since then , it has undergone eight revisions , in 1990 ( London ) , 1991 ( Nairobi ) , 1992 ( Copenhagen ) , 1993 ( Bangkok ) , 1995 ( Vienna ) , 1997 ( Montreal ) , 1998 ( Australia ) , 1999 ( Beijing ) and 2016 ( Kigali , adopted , but not in force ) . As a result of the international agreement , the ozone hole in Antarctica is slowly recovering . Climate projections indicate that the ozone layer will return to 1980 levels between 2050 and 2070 . Due to its widespread adoption and implementation it has been hailed as an example of exceptional international co-operation , with Kofi Annan quoted as saying that `` perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol '' . In comparison , effective burden sharing and solution proposals mitigating regional conflicts of interest have been among the success factors for the ozone depletion challenge , where global regulation based on the Kyoto Protocol has failed to do so . In this case of the ozone depletion challenge , there was global regulation already being installed before a scientific consensus was established . Also , overall public opinion was convinced of possible imminent risks .   The two ozone treaties have been ratified by 197 parties , which includes 196 states and the European Union , making them the first universally ratified treaties in United Nations history .   These truly universal treaties have also been remarkable in the expedience of the policy making process at the global scale , where only 14 years lapsed between a basic scientific research discovery ( 1973 ) and the international agreement signed ( 1985 & 1987 ) .


Moon

The Moon is an astronomical body that orbits planet Earth , being Earth 's only permanent natural satellite . It is the fifth-largest natural satellite in the Solar System , and the largest among planetary satellites relative to the size of the planet that it orbits ( its primary ) . Following Jupiter 's satellite Io , the Moon is second-densest satellite among those whose densities are known .   The average distance of the Moon from the Earth is 384400 km , or 1.28 light-seconds .   The Moon is thought to have formed about 4.51 billion years ago , not long after Earth . There are several hypotheses for its origin ; the most widely accepted explanation is that the Moon formed from the debris left over after a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia .   The Moon is in synchronous rotation with Earth , always showing the same face , with its near side marked by dark volcanic maria that fill the spaces between the bright ancient crustal highlands and the prominent impact craters . It is the second-brightest regularly visible celestial object in Earth 's sky , after the Sun , as measured by illuminance on Earth 's surface . Its surface is actually dark , although compared to the night sky it appears very bright , with a reflectance just slightly higher than that of worn asphalt . Its prominence in the sky and its regular cycle of phases have made the Moon an important cultural influence since ancient times on language , calendars , art , and mythology .   The Moon 's gravitational influence produces the ocean tides , body tides , and the slight lengthening of the day . The Moon 's current orbital distance is about thirty times the diameter of Earth , with its apparent size in the sky almost the same as that of the Sun , resulting in the Moon covering the Sun nearly precisely in total solar eclipse . This matching of apparent visual size will not continue in the far future . The Moon 's linear distance from Earth is currently increasing at a rate of 3.82 ± per year , but this rate is not constant .   The Soviet Union 's Luna programme was the first to reach the Moon with uncrewed spacecraft in 1959 ; the United States ' NASA Apollo program achieved the only crewed missions to date , beginning with the first crewed lunar orbiting mission by Apollo 8 in 1968 , and six crewed lunar landings between 1969 and 1972 , with the first being Apollo 11 . These missions returned over 380 kg of lunar rocks , which have been used to develop a geological understanding of the Moon 's origin , the formation of its internal structure , and its subsequent history . Since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 , the Moon has been visited only by uncrewed spacecraft .


Morocco

Morocco ( -LSB- məˈrɒkoʊ -RSB- المغرب , lit . `` The West '' ; ; Maroc ) , officially known as the Kingdom of Morocco ( المملكة المغربية , lit . `` The Western Kingdom '' ; ⵜⴰⴳⵍⴷⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵎⵖⵔⵉⴱ ) , is a sovereign country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa . Geographically , Morocco is characterized by a rugged mountainous interior , large tracts of desert , and a lengthy coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea .   Morocco has a population of over 33.8 million and an area of 446,550 km2 . Its capital is Rabat , and the largest city is Casablanca . Other major cities include Marrakesh , Tangier , Tetouan , Salé , Fes , Agadir , Meknes , Oujda , Kenitra , and Nador . A historically prominent regional power , Morocco has a history of independence not shared by its neighbours . Since the foundation of the first Moroccan state by Idris I in 789 , the country has been ruled by a series of independent dynasties , reaching its zenith under the Almoravid and Almohad dynasty , spanning parts of Iberia and Northwestern Africa . Marinid and Saadi dynasties continued the struggle against foreign domination , and Morocco remained the only North African country to avoid Ottoman occupation . The Alaouite dynasty , the current ruling dynasty , seized power in 1666 . In 1912 Morocco was divided into French and Spanish protectorates , with an international zone in Tangier , and regained its independence in 1956 . Moroccan culture is a blend of Arab , indigenous Berber , Sub-Saharan African , and European influences .   Morocco claims the non-self-governing territory of Western Sahara as its Southern Provinces . Morocco annexed the territory in 1975 , leading to a guerrilla war with indigenous forces until a cease-fire in 1991 . Peace processes have thus far failed to break the political deadlock .   Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament . The King of Morocco holds vast executive and legislative powers , especially over the military , foreign policy and religious affairs . Executive power is exercised by the government , while legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament , the Assembly of Representatives and the Assembly of Councillors . The king can issue decrees called dahirs which have the force of law . He can also dissolve the parliament after consulting the Prime Minister and the president of the Constitutional court .   Morocco 's predominant religion is Islam , and the official languages are Arabic and Tamazight . The Moroccan dialect , referred to as Darija , and French are also widely spoken . Morocco is a member of the Arab League , the Union for the Mediterranean , and the African Union . It has the fifth largest economy of Africa .


Moscow

Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia , with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area . Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city .   Moscow is a major political , economic , cultural , and scientific centre of Russia and Eastern Europe , as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent . By broader definitions Moscow is among the world 's largest cities , being the 14th largest metro area , the 18th largest agglomeration , the 15th largest urban area , and the 11th largest by population within city limits worldwide . According to Forbes 2013 , Moscow has been ranked as the ninth most expensive city in the world by Mercer and has one of the world 's largest urban economies , being ranked as an alpha global city according to the Globalization and World Cities Research Network , and is also one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world according to the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index . Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth . It is home to the Ostankino Tower , the tallest free standing structure in Europe ; the Federation Tower , the tallest skyscraper in Europe ; and the Moscow International Business Center . By its territorial expansion on July 1 , 2012 southwest into the Moscow Oblast , the area of the capital more than doubled , going from 1091 to , and it gained an additional population of 233,000 people .  Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia , making it the world 's most populated inland city . The city is well known for its architecture , particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basil 's Cathedral with its brightly coloured domes . With over 40 percent of its territory covered by greenery , it is one of the greenest capitals and major cities in Europe and the world , having the largest forest in an urban area within its borders -- more than any other major city -- even before its expansion in 2012 .  The city has served as the capital of a progression of states , from the medieval Grand Duchy of Moscow and the subsequent Tsardom of Russia to the Russian Empire to the Soviet Union and the contemporary Russian Federation . Moscow is considered the centre of Russian culture , having served as the home of Russian artists , scientists and sports figures and because of the presence of museums , academic and political institutions and theatres .   Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia , being the site of the Moscow Kremlin , a medieval city-fortress that is today the residence for work of the President of Russia . The Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city . Both chambers of the Russian parliament ( the State Duma and the Federation Council ) also sit in the city .   The city is served by a transit network , which includes four international airports , nine railway terminals , numerous trams , a monorail system and one of the deepest underground rapid transit systems in the world , the Moscow Metro , the fourth-largest in the world and largest outside of Asia in terms of passenger numbers , and the busiest in Europe . It is recognised as one of the city 's landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations .   Moscow has acquired a number of epithets , most referring to its size and preeminent status within the nation : The Third Rome , The Whitestone One , The First Throne , The Forty Forties , and The Hero City . In old Russian the word '' Сорок '' ( forty ) also meant a church administrative district , which consisted of about forty churches . The demonym for a Moscow resident is '' москвич '' ( moskvich ) for male or '' москвичка '' ( moskvichka ) for female , rendered in English as Muscovite .


Mother goddess

For | the mountain with native name Chomolungma ( `` Goddess Mother of the World/Earth '' ) | Mount Everest -RCB- h -RCB-  A mother goddess is a goddess who represents , or is a personification of nature , motherhood , fertility , creation , destruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth . When equated with the Earth or the natural world , such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother .   There is difference of opinion between the academic and the popular conception of the term . The popular view is mainly driven by the Goddess movement and reads that primitive societies initially were matriarchal , worshipping a sovereign , nurturing , motherly earth goddess . This was based upon the nineteenth-century ideas of unilineal evolution of Johann Jakob Bachofen . According to the academic view , however , both Bachofen and the modern Goddess theories are a projection of contemporary world views on ancient myths , rather than attempting to understand the mentalité of that time . Often this is accompanied by a desire for a lost civilization from a bygone era that would have been just , peaceful and wise . However , it is highly unlikely that such a civilization ever existed .   For a long time , feminist authors advocated that these peaceful , matriarchal agrarian societies were exterminated or subjugated by nomadic , patriarchal warrior tribes . An important contribution to this was that of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas . Her work in this field is now however largely rejected . Also with feminist archaeologists this vision is nowadays considered highly controversial .   Since the sixties of the twentieth century , especially in popular culture , the alleged worship of the mother goddess and the social position that women in prehistoric societies supposedly assumed , were linked . This made the debate a political one . According to the goddess movement , the current male-dominated society should return to the egalitarian matriarchy of earlier times . That this form of society ever existed was supposedly supported by many figurines that were found .  In academic circles , this prehistoric matriarchy is considered unlikely . Firstly , worshiping a mother goddess does not necessarily mean that women ruled society . In addition , the figurines can also portray ordinary women or goddesses , and it is unclear whether there really ever was a mother goddess .


Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa , after Kilimanjaro . The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian ( 5199 m ) , Nelion ( 5188 m ) and Point Lenana ( 4985 m ) . Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya , the heart of Kenya , about 16.5 km south of the equator , around 150 km north-northeast of the capital Nairobi . Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya .   Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift .  Before glaciation , it was 7000 m high . It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years . This has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from the centre . There are currently 11 small glaciers . The forested slopes are an important source of water for much of Kenya .   There are several vegetation bands from the base to the summit . The lower slopes are covered by different types of forest . Many alpine species are endemic to Mount Kenya , such as the giant lobelias and senecios and a local subspecies of rock hyrax . An area of 715 km2 around the centre of the mountain was designated a National Park  and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 . The park receives over 16,000 visitors per year .


Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro ( -LSB- pronˌkɪlɪmənˈdʒɑːroʊ -RSB- ) , with its three volcanic cones , `` Kibo '' , `` Mawenzi '' , and `` Shira '' , is a dormant volcano in Tanzania . It is the highest mountain in Africa , and rises approximately 4900 m from its base to 5895 m above sea level.The first persons proven to have reached the summit of the mountain were Hans Meyer , and Ludwig Purtscheller in 1889 . The mountain is part of the Kilimanjaro National Park and is a major climbing destination . The mountain has been the subject of many scientific studies because of its shrinking glaciers and disappearing ice fields .


Mountain pine beetle

The mountain pine beetle Dendroctonus ponderosae , is a species of bark beetle native to the forests of western North America from Mexico to central British Columbia . It has a hard black exoskeleton , and measures approximately 5 mm , about the size of a grain of rice .   In western North America , the current outbreak of the mountain pine beetle and its microbial associates has destroyed wide areas of lodgepole pine forest , including more than 16 million of the 55 million hectares of forest in British Columbia . The current outbreak in the Rocky Mountain National Park began in 1996 and has caused the destruction of millions of acres of ponderosa and lodgepole pine trees . According to an annual assessment by the state 's forest service , 264,000 acres of trees in Colorado were infested by the mountain pine beetle at the beginning of 2013 . This was much smaller than the 1.15 million acres that were affected in 2008 because the beetle has already killed off most of the vulnerable trees ( Ward ) .   Mountain pine beetles inhabit ponderosa , whitebark , lodgepole , Scotch , jack pine , and limber pine trees . Normally , these insects play an important role in the life of a forest , attacking old or weakened trees , and speeding development of a younger forest . However , unusually hot , dry summers and mild winters throughout the region during the last few years , along with forests filled with mature lodgepole pine , have led to an unprecedented epidemic .   It may be the largest forest insect blight ever seen in North America . Climate change , monocultural replanting , and a century of forest fire suppresion have contributed to the size and severity of the outbreak , and the outbreak itself may , with similar infestations , have significant effects on the capability of northern forests to remove greenhouse gas ( CO2 ) from the atmosphere .   Because of its impact on forestry , the transcriptome and the genome have been sequenced . This is only the second beetle genome to be sequenced as of 2013 .


Murmansk

Murmansk ( -LSB- Му́рманск , p = ˈmurmənsk -RSB- -LSB- Incubator : Wp/sjd / Мурман ланнҍ , Мурман ланнҍ -RSB- Murmánska Muurman ) is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast , Russia , located in the extreme northwest part of Russia , on the Kola Bay , an inlet of the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula , close to Russia 's borders with Norway and Finland . The city is named for the Murman Coast ; Murman is an older Russian term for Norwegians .   Despite its extremely-northern latitude of 68 ° 58 'N ( just 2 ° north of the Arctic Circle at approximately 66 ° 33 ` N ) , Murmansk is in many ways similar to other Russian cities of its size at far-lower latitudes , with highway and railway access to the rest of Europe , and the northernmost trolleybus system on Earth . This is in stark contrast to the isolation of other major Arctic maritime cities such as Dikson , Krasnoyarsk Krai ( 73 ° 30 ` N ) in the far-north of Siberia on the shores of the Kara Sea or Iqaluit , Nunavut in Canada on Baffin Island 's Frobisher Bay off the Labrador Sea ( actually further south at 63 ° 44 ` N ) . While still having long , harsh winters , Murmansk enjoys somewhat warmer temperatures , relatively speaking , than other regions at similarly high latitudes due to the moderating effects of the Gulf Stream on the Barents Sea .   Although Murmansk 's population is in decline -- 299,148 ( 2014 est. ) ; -- it remains by far the largest city north of the Arctic Circle and is a major port on the Arctic Ocean .


Mutation

In biology , a mutation is the permanent alteration of the nucleotide sequence of the genome of an organism , virus , or extrachromosomal DNA or other genetic elements .   Mutations result from errors during DNA replication or other types of damage to DNA , which then may undergo error-prone repair ( especially microhomology-mediated end joining ) , or cause an error during other forms of repair , or else may cause an error during replication ( translesion synthesis ) . Mutations may also result from insertion or deletion of segments of DNA due to mobile genetic elements . Mutations may or may not produce discernible changes in the observable characteristics ( phenotype ) of an organism . Mutations play a part in both normal and abnormal biological processes including : evolution , cancer , and the development of the immune system , including junctional diversity .   The genomes of RNA viruses are based on RNA rather than DNA . The RNA viral genome can be double stranded ( as in DNA ) or single stranded . In some of these viruses ( such as the single stranded human immunodeficiency virus ) replication occurs quickly and there are no mechanisms to check the genome for accuracy . This error-prone process often results in mutations .   Mutation can result in many different types of change in sequences . Mutations in genes can either have no effect , alter the product of a gene , or prevent the gene from functioning properly or completely . Mutations can also occur in nongenic regions . One study on genetic variations between different species of Drosophila suggests that , if a mutation changes a protein produced by a gene , the result is likely to be harmful , with an estimated 70 percent of amino acid polymorphisms that have damaging effects , and the remainder being either neutral or marginally beneficial . Due to the damaging effects that mutations can have on genes , organisms have mechanisms such as DNA repair to prevent or correct mutations by reverting the mutated sequence back to its original state .


Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction ( MI ) , commonly known as a heart attack , occurs when blood flow stops to a part of the heart causing damage to the heart muscle . The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder , arm , back , neck , or jaw . Often it is in the center or left side of the chest and lasts for more than a few minutes . The discomfort may occasionally feel like heartburn . Other symptoms may include shortness of breath , nausea , feeling faint , a cold sweat , or feeling tired . About 30 % of people have atypical symptoms . Women more often have atypical symptoms than men . Among those over 75 years old , about 5 % have had an MI with little or no history of symptoms . An MI may cause heart failure , an irregular heartbeat , cardiogenic shock , or cardiac arrest .   Most MIs occur due to coronary artery disease . Risk factors include high blood pressure , smoking , diabetes , lack of exercise , obesity , high blood cholesterol , poor diet , and excessive alcohol intake , among others . The mechanism of an MI often involves the complete blockage of a coronary artery caused by a rupture of an atherosclerotic plaque . MIs are less commonly caused by coronary artery spasms , which may be due to cocaine , significant emotional stress , and extreme cold , among others . A number of tests are useful to help with diagnosis , including electrocardiograms ( ECGs ) , blood tests , and coronary angiography . An ECG , which is a recording of the heart 's electrical activity , may confirm an ST elevation MI ( STEMI ) if a change known as ST elevation is present . Commonly used blood tests include troponin and less often creatine kinase MB .   Treatment of an MI is time critical . Aspirin is an appropriate immediate treatment for a suspected MI . Nitroglycerin or opioids may be used to help with chest pain ; however , they do not improve overall outcomes . Supplemental oxygen should be used in those with low oxygen levels or shortness of breath . In ST elevation MIs treatments which attempt to restore blood flow to the heart are typically recommended and include percutaneous coronary intervention ( PCI ) , where the arteries are pushed open and may be stented , or thrombolysis , where the blockage is removed using medications . People who have a non-ST elevation myocardial infarction ( NSTEMI ) are often managed with the blood thinner heparin , with the additional use of PCI in those at high risk . In people with blockages of multiple coronary arteries and diabetes , coronary artery bypass surgery ( CABG ) may be recommended rather than angioplasty . After an MI , lifestyle modifications , along with long term treatment with aspirin , beta blockers , and statins , are typically recommended .   Worldwide , about 15.9 million myocardial infarctions occurred in 2015 . More than 3 million people had an ST elevation MI and more than 4 million had an NSTEMI . STEMIs occur about twice as often in men as women . About one million people have an MI each year in the United States . In the developed world the risk of death in those who have had an STEMI is about 10 % . Rates of MI for a given age have decreased globally between 1990 and 2010 . In 2011 , AMI was one of the top five most expensive conditions during inpatient hospitalizations in the US , with a cost of about $ 11.5 billion for 612,000 hospital stays .


NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA -LSB- ˈnæsə -RSB- ) is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program , as well as aeronautics and aerospace research .   President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian ( rather than military ) orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science . The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29 , 1958 , disestablishing NASA 's predecessor , the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics ( NACA ) . The new agency became operational on October 1 , 1958 .   Since that time , most US space exploration efforts have been led by NASA , including the Apollo Moon landing missions , the Skylab space station , and later the Space Shuttle . Currently , NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle , the Space Launch System and Commercial Crew vehicles . The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program ( LSP ) which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches .   NASA science is focused on better understanding Earth through the Earth Observing System , advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate 's Heliophysics Research Program , exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft missions such as New Horizons , and researching astrophysics topics , such as the Big Bang , through the Great Observatories and associated programs . NASA shares data with various national and international organizations such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite . Since 2011 , NASA has been criticized for low cost efficiency , achieving little results in return for high development costs .


NASA Deep Space Network

The NASA Deep Space Network ( DSN ) is a worldwide network of US spacecraft communication facilities , located in the United States ( California ) , Spain ( Madrid ) , and Australia ( Canberra ) , that supports NASA 's interplanetary spacecraft missions . It also performs radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe , and supports selected Earth-orbiting missions . DSN is part of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) . Similar networks are run by Europe , Russia , China , India , and Japan .


NW Rota-1

NW Rota-1 is a seamount in the Mariana Islands, northwest of Rota, which was discovered through its hydrothermal activity in 2003. The volcano has been observed to be erupting underwater, the first time that submarine explosive eruptions have been directly witnessed. The summit of the seamount lies at 517 m (1,696 ft) below sea level, with a ridge capping off the seamount. It has several craters, the most active of which is located south of the summit ridge and is called "Brimstone Pit". Eruptions have been recorded in 2008–2010 and took the form of Strombolian eruptions with the emission of lava and large amounts of tephra. The erupted material is unstable and forms sediment flows and landslides; one large landslide occurred on 14 August 2009 and stripped part of the southern flank of NW Rota-1. Such landslides generate ash plumes underwater and are similar to large landslides at other active submarine volcanoes. The activity gives rise to intense hydrothermal plumes, which contain droplets of molten sulfur and bubbles of carbon dioxide, among other compounds. It is estimated that NW Rota-1 releases 400,000 ± 100,000 tonne/year of carbon dioxide. The hydrothermal activity nourishes microbial mats and these in turn many animals, although the unstable environment from the frequent eruptions limits animal diversity.


Nancy Pelosi

Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi ( -LSB- pəˈloʊsi -RSB- born March 26 , 1940 ) is an American politician who currently serves as the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives , representing California 's 12th congressional district . She previously served as the 52nd House Speaker from 2007 to 2011 , the only woman to do so . She is also , to date , the highest-ranking female politician in American history .   A member of the Democratic Party , Pelosi represents California 's 12th congressional district , which consists of four-fifths of the city and county of San Francisco . The district was numbered as the 5th during her first three terms in the House , and as the 8th from 1993 to 2013 . She served as the House Minority Whip from 2002 to 2003 , and was House Minority Leader from 2003 to 2007 , holding the post during the 108th and 109th Congresses alongside President George W. Bush . Pelosi is the first woman , the first Californian , and first Italian-American to lead a major party in Congress . After the Democrats took control of the House in 2007 and increased their majority in 2009 , Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House for the 110th and 111th Congresses alongside Presidents Bush and Barack Obama .   On November 17 , 2010 , Pelosi was elected as the Democratic Leader by House Democrats and therefore the Minority Leader in the Republican-controlled House for the 112th Congress .


Naomi Oreskes

Naomi Oreskes ( born November 25 , 1958 ) is an American historian of science . She became Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University in 2013 , after 15 years as Professor of History and Science Studies at the University of California , San Diego . She has worked on studies of geophysics , environmental issues such as global warming , and the history of science . In 2010 , Oreskes co-authored Merchants of Doubt which identified some parallels between the climate change debate and earlier public controversies .


Narrative

A narrative or story is a report of connected events , real or imaginary , presented in a sequence of written or spoken words , or still or moving images , or both . The word derives from the Latin verb narrare , `` to tell '' , which is derived from the adjective gnarus , `` knowing '' or `` skilled '' .   Narrative can be organized in a number of thematic or formal categories : non-fiction ( such as definitively including creative non-fiction , biography , journalism , transcript poetry , and historiography ) ; fictionalization of historical events ( such as anecdote , myth , legend , and historical fiction ) ; and fiction proper ( such as literature in prose and sometimes poetry , such as short stories , novels , and narrative poems and songs , and imaginary narratives as portrayed in other textual forms , games , or live or recorded performances ) .   Narrative is found in all forms of human creativity , art , and entertainment , including speech , literature , theatre , music and song , comics , journalism , film , television and video , radio , gameplay , unstructured recreation , and performance in general , as well as some painting , sculpture , drawing , photography , and other visual arts ( though several modern art movements refuse the narrative in favor of the abstract and conceptual ) , as long as a sequence of events is presented .   Oral storytelling is the earliest method for sharing narratives . During most people 's childhoods , narratives are used to guide them on proper behavior , cultural history , formation of a communal identity , and values , as especially studied in anthropology today among traditional indigenous peoples .   Narratives may also be nested within other narratives , such as narratives told by an unreliable narrator ( a character ) typically found in noir fiction genre . An important part of narration is the narrative mode , the set of methods used to communicate the narrative through a process narration ( see also `` Narrative Aesthetics '' below ) .   Along with exposition , argumentation , and description , narration , broadly defined , is one of four rhetorical modes of discourse . More narrowly defined , it is the fiction-writing mode in which the narrator communicates directly to the reader .


National Electricity Market

The National Electricity Market ( NEM ) is the Australian wholesale electricity market that covers the electrically connected states and territories of eastern and southern Australia , and the associated synchronous electricity transmission grid . The Australian Energy Market Commission develops and maintains the Australian National Electricity Rules , which have the force of law for the NEM in the participating states and territories . The Rules are enforced by the Australian Energy Regulator .   The NEM began operation on 13 December 1998 and operations currently cover the electrically connected states and territories of eastern and southern Australia of Queensland , New South Wales , Australian Capital Territory , Victoria , Tasmania and South Australia . Western Australia and the Northern Territory are not connected to the NEM . The NEM comprises five regions , with the ACT being in the NSW region . Tasmania joined the NEM in May 2005 and became fully operational on 29 April 2006 when the Basslink interconnector was fully activated . The Snowy region was abolished as a region on 1 July 2008 and the components split between New South Wales and Victoria . The Northern Territory has adopted parts of the National Electricity Law , with the Australian Energy Market Commission becoming the rule maker for the Territory for parts of the National Electricity Rules from 1 July 2016 . Western Australia is also considering adopting parts of the NER .   The NEM operates the world 's longest interconnected power systems between Port Douglas , Queensland and Port Lincoln , South Australia with an end-to-end distance of more than 5000 kilometres , and 40,000 circuit kilometres . Over A$ 11 billion of electricity is traded annually in the NEM to meet the demand of almost 19 million end-use consumers .


The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ; pronounced -LSB- ˈnoʊ.ə -RSB- , like `` Noah '' ) is an American scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere . NOAA warns of dangerous weather , charts seas , guides the use and protection of ocean and coastal resources , and conducts research to improve understanding and stewardship of the environment . In addition to its civilian employees , over 11,000 as of 2015 , NOAA research and operations are supported by 379 uniformed service members who make up the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps . NOAA traces its history to the Coast Survey established by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807 . In its present form , it combined several scientific agencies in 1970 . The Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere at the Department of Commerce and the agency 's interim administrator has been Benjamin Friedman since the end of the Obama administration on January 20 , 2017 .


National Park Service

The National Park Service ( NPS ) is an agency of the United States federal government that manages all national parks , many national monuments , and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations . It was created on August 25 , 1916 , by Congress through the National Park Service Organic Act and is an agency of the United States Department of the Interior . The NPS is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment .   , the NPS employs 21,651 employees who oversee units , of which 59 are designated national parks .


National security

National Security is a concept that a government , along with its parliaments , should protect the state and its citizens against all kind of `` national '' crises through a variety of power projections , such as political power , diplomacy , economic power , military might , and so on .   The concept developed all in the United States after World War II . Initially focusing on military might , it now encompasses a broad range of facets , all of which impinge on the non-military or economic security of the nation and the values espoused by the national society . Accordingly , in order to possess national security , a nation needs to possess economic security , energy security , environmental security , etc. . Security threats involve not only conventional foes such as other nation-states but also non-state actors such as violent non-state actors , narcotic cartels , multinational corporations and non-governmental organisations ; some authorities include natural disasters and events causing severe environmental damage in this category .   Measures taken to ensure national security include :  using diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats  marshalling economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation  maintaining effective armed forces  implementing civil defense and emergency preparedness measures ( including anti-terrorism legislation )  ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical infrastructure  using intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage , and to protect classified information  using counterintelligence services or secret police to protect the nation from internal threats   There is no single universally accepted definition of national security . The variety of definitions provide an overview of the many usages of this concept . The concept still remains ambiguous , having originated from simpler definitions which initially emphasised the freedom from military threat and political coercion to later increase in sophistication and include other forms of non-military security as suited the circumstances of the time .   A typical dictionary definition , in this case from the Macmillan Dictionary ( online version ) , defines the term as `` the protection or the safety of a country 's secrets and its citizens '' emphasising the overall security of a nation and a nation state . Walter Lippmann , in 1943 , defined it in terms of war saying that `` a nation has security when it does not have to sacrifice its legitimate ínterests to avoid war , and is able , if challenged , to maintain them by war '' . A later definition by Harold Lasswell , a political scientist , in 1950 , looks at national security from almost the same aspect , that of external coercion : `` The distinctive meaning of national security means freedom from foreign dictation . ''   In 1960 , Arnold Wolfers , while recognising the need to segregate the subjectivity of the conceptual idea from the objectivity , talks of threats to acquired values : `` An ambiguous symbol meaning different things to different people . National security objectively means the absence of threats to acquired values and subjectively , the absence of fear that such values will be attacked . '' The 1996 definition propagated by the National Defence College of India accretes the elements of national power : `` National security is an appropriate and aggressive blend of political resilience and maturity , human resources , economic structure and capacity , technological competence , industrial base and availability of natural resources and finally the military might . ''   Harold Brown , U.S. Secretary of Defense from 1977 to 1981 in the Carter administration , enlarged the definition of national security by including elements such as economic and environmental security : National security then is the ability to preserve the nation 's physical integrity and territory ; to maintain its economic relations with the rest of the world on reasonable terms ; to preserve its nature , institution , and governance from disruption from outside ; and to control its borders.In 1990 , Harvard University history professor Charles Maier defined national security through the lens of national power : `` National security ... is best described as a capacity to control those domestic and foreign conditions that the public opinion of a given community believes necessary to enjoy its own self-determination or autonomy , prosperity and wellbeing . '' According to Prabhakaran Paleri , author of National Security , Imperatives and Challenges , national security may be defined as : The measurable state of the capability of a nation to overcome the multi-dimensional threats to the apparent well-being of its people and its survival as a nation-state at any given time , by balancing all instruments of state policy through governance , that can be indexed by computation , empirically or otherwise , and is extendable to global security by variables external to it .  A concise working definition by Premaratne that paraphrases the aspects of the definitions of Brown , Romm and Paleri defines national security as  Safeguarding the sovereignty , territorial integrity , citizenry and socioeconomic functionality of a nation from an aggressor intent on undermining a particular valued aspect of a nation through violent or unjust means


Natural disaster

A natural disaster is a major adverse event resulting from natural processes of the Earth ; examples include floods , hurricanes , tornadoes , volcanic eruptions , earthquakes , tsunamis , and other geologic processes . A natural disaster can cause loss of life or property damage , and typically leaves some economic damage in its wake , the severity of which depends on the affected population 's resilience , or ability to recover and also on the infrastructure available .   An adverse event will not rise to the level of a disaster if it occurs in an area without vulnerable population . In a vulnerable area , however , such as Nepal during the 2015 earthquake , an earthquake can have disastrous consequences and leave lasting damage , requiring years to repair .


Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally , meaning in this case not artificial . The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth . This environment encompasses the interaction of all living species , climate , weather , and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity .   The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished by components :  Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive civilized human intervention , including all vegetation , microorganisms , soil , rocks , atmosphere , and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries and their nature  Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries , such as air , water , and climate , as well as energy , radiation , electric charge , and magnetism , not originating from civilized human activity   In contrast to the natural environment is the built environment . In such areas where man has fundamentally transformed landscapes such as urban settings and agricultural land conversion , the natural environment is greatly modified into a simplified human environment . Even acts which seem less extreme , such as building a mud hut or a photovoltaic system in the desert , modify the natural environment into an artificial one . Though many animals build things to provide a better environment for themselves , they are not human , hence beaver dams and the works of Mound-building termites are thought of as natural .   People seldom find absolutely natural environments on Earth , and naturalness usually varies in a continuum , from 100 % natural in one extreme to 0 % natural in the other . More precisely , we can consider the different aspects or components of an environment , and see that their degree of naturalness is not uniform . If , for instance , in an agricultural field , the mineralogic composition and the structure of its soil are similar to those of an undisturbed forest soil , but the structure is quite different .   Natural environment is often used as a synonym for habitat . For instance , when we say that the natural environment of giraffes is the savanna .


Natural gas

Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane , but commonly including varying amounts of other higher alkanes , and sometimes a small percentage of carbon dioxide , nitrogen , hydrogen sulfide , or helium . It is formed when layers of decomposing plant and animal matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure under the surface of the Earth over millions of years . The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in the gas .   Natural gas is a fossil fuel used as a source of energy for heating , cooking , and electricity generation . It is also used as fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals . Fossil fuel based natural gas is a non-renewable resource .   Natural gas is found in deep underground rock formations or associated with other hydrocarbon reservoirs in coal beds and as methane clathrates . Petroleum is another resource and fossil fuel found in close proximity to and with natural gas . Most natural gas was created over time by two mechanisms : biogenic and thermogenic . Biogenic gas is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes , bogs , landfills , and shallow sediments . Deeper in the earth , at greater temperature and pressure , thermogenic gas is created from buried organic material .   In petroleum production gas is often burnt as flare gas . The World Bank estimates that over 150 cubic kilometers of natural gas are flared or vented annually . Before natural gas can be used as a fuel , most , but not all , must be processed to remove impurities , including water , to meet the specifications of marketable natural gas . The by-products of this processing include : ethane , propane , butanes , pentanes , and higher molecular weight hydrocarbons , hydrogen sulfide ( which may be converted into pure sulfur ) , carbon dioxide , water vapor , and sometimes helium and nitrogen .   Natural gas is often informally referred to simply as `` gas '' , especially when compared to other energy sources such as oil or coal . However , it is not to be confused with gasoline , especially in North America , where the term gasoline is often shortened in colloquial usage to gas .   Natural gas was used by the Chinese in about 500 BCE ( possibly even 1000 BCE ) . They discovered a way to transport gas seeping from the ground in crude pipelines of bamboo to where it was used to boil salt water to extract the salt , in the Ziliujing District of Sichuan . The world 's first industrial extraction of natural gas started at Fredonia , New York , United States in 1825 . By 2009 , 66 000 km ³ ( or 8 % ) had been used out of the total 850 000 km ³ of estimated remaining recoverable reserves of natural gas . Based on an estimated 2015 world consumption rate of about 3400 km ³ of gas per year , the total estimated remaining economically recoverable reserves of natural gas would last 250 years at current consumption rates . An annual increase in usage of 2 -- 3 % could result in currently recoverable reserves lasting significantly less , perhaps as few as 80 to 100 years .


Nature

Nature , in the broadest sense , is the natural , physical , or material world or universe . `` Nature '' can refer to the phenomena of the physical world , and also to life in general . The study of nature is a large part of science . Although humans are part of nature , human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena .   The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura , or `` essential qualities , innate disposition '' , and in ancient times , literally meant `` birth '' . Natura is a Latin translation of the Greek word physis , which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants , animals , and other features of the world develop of their own accord . The concept of nature as a whole , the physical universe , is one of several expansions of the original notion ; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-Socratic philosophers , and has steadily gained currency ever since . This usage continued during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries .   Within the various uses of the word today , `` nature '' often refers to geology and wildlife . Nature can refer to the general realm of living plants and animals , and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects -- the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord , such as the weather and geology of the Earth . It is often taken to mean the `` natural environment '' or wilderness -- wild animals , rocks , forest , and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention , or which persist despite human intervention . For example , manufactured objects and human interaction generally are not considered part of nature , unless qualified as , for example , `` human nature '' or `` the whole of nature '' . This more traditional concept of natural things which can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial , with the artificial being understood as that which has been brought into being by a human consciousness or a human mind . Depending on the particular context , the term `` natural '' might also be distinguished from the unnatural or the supernatural .


Neanderthal

Neanderthals , or more rarely Neandertals , ( -LSB- niˈændərˌtɑːl -RSB- , also -LSB- neɪ -RSB- - , - -LSB- ˈɑːndər -RSB- - , - -LSB- ˌtɔːl -RSB- , - -LSB- ˌθɔːl -RSB- named for the Neandertal region in Germany ) were a species or subspecies of archaic humans in the genus Homo that went extinct about 40,000 years ago . Neanderthals and modern humans share 99.7 % of their DNA and are hence closely related . ( By comparison , both modern humans and Neanderthals share 98.8 % of their DNA with their closest non-human living relatives , the chimpanzees . ) Neanderthals left bones and stone tools in Eurasia , from Western Europe to Central and Northern Asia . Fossil evidence suggests Neanderthals evolved in Europe , separate from modern humans in Africa for more than 400,000 years . They are considered either a distinct species , Homo neanderthalensis , or as a subspecies of Homo sapiens ( H. s. neanderthalensis ) .   Hundreds of lithic assemblages were created by Neanderthals in Europe and Asia . Almost all of them are of the so-called Mousterian techno-complex , which begins c. 160,000 years ago when the makers started making fewer hand axes , and instead started to make tools out of flakes .   Compared to modern humans , Neanderthals had a lower surface-to-volume ratio , with shorter legs and a bigger body , in conformance with Bergmann 's rule , as an energy-loss reduction adaptation to life in a high-latitude ( i.e. seasonally cold ) climate . Male Neanderthals had cranial capacities averaging 1600 cm3 , females 1300 cm3 , extending to 1736 cm3 in Amud 1 . This is notably larger than the 1250 to typical of modern humans . Males stood 164 to and females 152 to tall .   The Neanderthal genome project published papers in 2010 and 2014 stating that Neanderthals contributed to the DNA of modern humans , including most humans outside sub-Saharan Africa , as well as a few populations in sub-Saharan Africa , through interbreeding , likely between 50,000 and 60,000 years ago . Recent studies also show that some Neanderthals mated with ancestors of modern humans long before the `` out of Africa migration '' of present day non-Africans , as early as 100,000 years ago . In 2016 , research indicated that there were three distinct episodes of interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals : the first encounter involved the ancestors of non-African modern humans , probably soon after leaving Africa ; the second , after the ancestral Melanesian group had branched off ( and subsequently had a unique episode of interbreeding with Denisovans ) ; and the third , involving the ancestors of East Asians only .   Claims that Neanderthals deliberately buried their dead , and if they did , whether such burials had any symbolic meaning , are heavily contested . The debate on deliberate Neanderthal burials has been active since the 1908 discovery of the well-preserved Chapelle-aux-Saints 1 skeleton in a small hole in a cave in southwestern France . In this controversy 's most recent installment , a team of French researchers reinvestigated the Chapelle-aux-Saints cave and in January 2014 reasserted the century-old claim that the 1908 Neanderthal specimen had been deliberately buried , and this has in turn been heavily criticised .   In 2013 , scientists sequenced the entire genome of a Neanderthal for the first time . The genome was extracted from the phalanx bone of a 50,000-year-old Neanderthal found in a Siberian cave .


Negative feedback

Negative feedback occurs when some function of the output of a system , process , or mechanism is fed back in a manner that tends to reduce the fluctuations in the output , whether caused by changes in the input or by other disturbances .   Whereas positive feedback tends to lead to instability via exponential growth , oscillation or chaotic behavior , negative feedback generally promotes stability . Negative feedback tends to promote a settling to equilibrium , and reduces the effects of perturbations . Negative feedback loops in which just the right amount of correction is applied with optimum timing can be very stable , accurate , and responsive .   Negative feedback is widely used in mechanical and electronic engineering , but it also occurs naturally within living organisms , and can be seen in many other fields from chemistry and economics to physical systems such as the climate . General negative feedback systems are studied in control systems engineering .


Neoliberalism

Neoliberalism ( neo-liberalism ) refers primarily to the 20th-century resurgence of 19th-century ideas associated with laissez-faire economic liberalism . These include extensive economic liberalization policies such as privatization , fiscal austerity , deregulation , free trade , and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society . These market-based ideas and the policies they inspired constitute a paradigm shift away from the post-war Keynesian consensus which lasted from 1945 to 1980 .   The term has been used in English since the start of the 20th century with different meanings , but became more prevalent in its current meaning in the 1970s and 1980s by scholars in a wide variety of social sciences , as well as being used by critics . Modern advocates of free market policies avoid the term `` neoliberal '' and some scholars have described the term as meaning different things to different people , as neoliberalism `` mutated '' into geopolitically distinct hybrids as it travelled around the world . As such , neoliberalism shares many attributes with other contested concepts , including democracy .   The definition and usage of the term have changed over time . It was originally an economic philosophy that emerged among European liberal scholars in the 1930s in an attempt to trace a so-called `` third '' or `` middle '' way between the conflicting philosophies of classical liberalism and socialist planning . The impetus for this development arose from a desire to avoid repeating the economic failures of the early 1930s , which were mostly blamed by neoliberals on the economic policy of classical liberalism . In the decades that followed , the use of the term neoliberal tended to refer to theories at variance with the more laissez-faire doctrine of classical liberalism , and promoted instead a market economy under the guidance and rules of a strong state , a model which came to be known as the social market economy .   In the 1960s , usage of the term `` neoliberal '' heavily declined . When the term was reintroduced in the 1980s in connection with Augusto Pinochet 's economic reforms in Chile , the usage of the term had shifted . It had not only become a term with negative connotations employed principally by critics of market reform , but it also had shifted in meaning from a moderate form of liberalism to a more radical and laissez-faire capitalist set of ideas . Scholars now tended to associate it with the theories of economists Friedrich Hayek , Milton Friedman and James M. Buchanan , along with politicians and policy-makers such as Margaret Thatcher , Ronald Reagan and Alan Greenspan . Once the new meaning of neoliberalism was established as a common usage among Spanish-speaking scholars , it diffused into the English-language study of political economy . By 1994 , with the passage of NAFTA and the Zapatistas ' reaction to this development in Chiapas , the term entered global circulation . Scholarship on the phenomenon of neoliberalism has been growing . The impact of the global 2008 -- 2009 crisis has also given rise to new scholarship that critiques neoliberalism and seeks developmental alternatives .


Neotropical realm

The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth 's land surface . Physically , it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone .


Nepal

fi     Nepal ( -LSB- Nepālhelp = no -RSB- -RCB- -RCB- -LSB- neˈpal -RSB- ) , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal , is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia . Nepal is divided into 7 provinces and 75 districts and 744 local units including 4 metropolises , 13 sub-metropolises , 246 municipal councils and 481 villages . It has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area . Bordering China in the north and India in the south , east , and west , it is the largest sovereign Himalayan state . Nepal does not border Bangladesh , which is located within only 27 km ( 17 mi ) of its southeastern tip . Neither does it border Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between . Nepal has a diverse geography , including fertile plains , subalpine forested hills , and eight of the world 's ten tallest mountains , including Mount Everest , the highest point on Earth . Kathmandu is the nation 's capital and largest city . It is a multiethnic nation with Nepali as the official language .   The territory of Nepal has a recorded history since the Neolithic age . The name `` Nepal '' is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age , the era which founded Hinduism , the predominant religion of the country . In the middle of the first millennium BCE , Gautama Buddha , the founder of Buddhism , was born in southern Nepal . Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet . The Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilisation . It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala . The Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley 's traders . The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture . By the 18th century , the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal . The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire , under its Rana dynasty of premiers . The country was never colonised but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India . In the 20th century , Nepal ended its isolation and forged strong ties with regional powers . Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951 , but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005 . The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008 , ending the reign of the world 's last Hindu monarchy .   Modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic . It has seven states . Nepal is a developing nation , ranking 144th on the Human Development Index ( HDI ) in 2016 . The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic . It also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty . Despite these challenges , Nepal is making steady progress , with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022 . Nepal also has a vast potential to generate hydropower for export .   Nepal 's foreign relations expanded after the Anglo-Nepal Treaty of 1923 , which was recognised by the League of Nations . After a Soviet veto in 1949 , Nepal was admitted to the United Nations in 1955 . Friendship treaties were signed with the Dominion of India in 1950 and the People 's Republic of China in 1960 . Nepal hosts the permanent secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation ( SAARC ) , of which it is a founding member . Nepal is also a member of the Non Aligned Movement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative . The military of Nepal is the fifth largest in South Asia and is notable for its Gurkha history , particularly during the world wars , and has been a significant contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations .


Neptune

Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun in the Solar System . In the Solar System , it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter , the third-most-massive planet , and the densest giant planet . Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus , which is 15 times the mass of Earth and slightly larger than Neptune.Neptune is denser and physically smaller than Uranus because Neptune 's greater mass gravitationally compresses the atmosphere more . Neptune orbits the Sun once every 164.8 years at an average distance of 30.1 AU . It is named after the Roman god of the sea and has the astronomical symbol ♆ , a stylised version of the god Neptune 's trident .   Neptune is not visible to the unaided eye and is the only planet in the Solar System found by mathematical prediction rather than by empirical observation . Unexpected changes in the orbit of Uranus led Alexis Bouvard to deduce that its orbit was subject to gravitational perturbation by an unknown planet . Neptune was subsequently observed with a telescope on 23 September 1846 by Johann Galle within a degree of the position predicted by Urbain Le Verrier . Its largest moon , Triton , was discovered shortly thereafter , though none of the planet 's remaining known 14 moons were located telescopically until the 20th century . The planet 's distance from Earth gives it a very small apparent size , making it challenging to study with Earth-based telescopes . Neptune was visited by Voyager 2 , when it flew by the planet on 25 August 1989 . The advent of the Hubble Space Telescope and large ground-based telescopes with adaptive optics has recently allowed for additional detailed observations from afar .   Neptune 's composition can be compared and contrasted with the Solar System 's other giant planets . Like Jupiter and Saturn , Neptune 's atmosphere is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium , along with traces of hydrocarbons and possibly nitrogen , but it contains a higher proportion of `` ices '' such as water , ammonia , and methane . However , its interior , like that of Uranus , is primarily composed of ices and rock , which is why Uranus and Neptune are normally considered `` ice giants '' to emphasise this distinction . Traces of methane in the outermost regions in part account for the planet 's blue appearance .   In contrast to the hazy , relatively featureless atmosphere of Uranus , Neptune 's atmosphere has active and visible weather patterns . For example , at the time of the Voyager 2 flyby in 1989 , the planet 's southern hemisphere had a Great Dark Spot comparable to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter . These weather patterns are driven by the strongest sustained winds of any planet in the Solar System , with recorded wind speeds as high as 2100 km/h . Because of its great distance from the Sun , Neptune 's outer atmosphere is one of the coldest places in the Solar System , with temperatures at its cloud tops approaching 55 K. Temperatures at the planet 's centre are approximately 5400 K. Neptune has a faint and fragmented ring system ( labelled `` arcs '' ) , which was first detected during the 1960s and confirmed by Voyager 2 .


Net metering

Net metering ( or net energy metering , NEM ) allows consumers who generate some or all of their own electricity to use that electricity anytime , instead of when it is generated . This is particularly important with wind and solar , which are non-dispatchable . Monthly net metering allows consumers to use solar power generated during the day at night , or wind from a windy day later in the month . Annual net metering rolls over a net kilowatt credit to the following month , allowing solar power that was generated in July to be used in December , or wind power from March in August .   Net metering policies can vary significantly by country and by state or province : if net metering is available , if and how long banked credits can be retained , and how much the credits are worth ( retail/wholesale ) . Most net metering laws involve monthly roll over of kWh credits , a small monthly connection fee , require monthly payment of deficits ( i.e. normal electric bill ) , and annual settlement of any residual credit . Unlike a feed-in tariff ( FIT ) , which requires two meters , net metering uses a single , bi-directional meter and can measure current flowing in two directions .  Net metering can be implemented solely as an accounting procedure , and requires no special metering , or even any prior arrangement or notification .   Net metering is an enabling policy designed to foster private investment in renewable energy .


Network effect

In economics and business , a network effect ( also called network externality or demand-side economies of scale ) is the effect that one user of a good or service has on the value of that product to other people . When a network effect is present , the value of a product or service is dependent on the number of others using it .   The classic example is the telephone . The more people who own telephones , the more valuable the telephone is to each owner . This creates a positive externality because a user may purchase a telephone without intending to create value for other users , but does so in any case . Online social networks work in the same way , with sites like Twitter and Facebook becoming more attractive as more users join .   The expression `` network effect '' is applied most commonly to positive network externalities as in the case of the telephone . Negative network externalities can also occur , where more users make a product less valuable , but are more commonly referred to as `` congestion '' ( as in traffic congestion or network congestion ) .   Over time , positive network effects can create a bandwagon effect as the network becomes more valuable and more people join , in a positive feedback loop .


New Deal

The New Deal was a series of programs , including , most notably , Social Security , that were enacted in the United States between 1933 and 1938 , and a few that came later . They included both laws passed by Congress as well as presidential executive orders during the first term ( 1933 -- 37 ) of the Presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt . The programs were in response to the Great Depression , and they focused on what historians refer to as the `` 3 Rs '' , Relief , Recovery , and Reform : relief for the unemployed and poor , recovery of the economy to normal levels , and reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression .   The New Deal produced a political realignment , making the Democratic Party the majority ( as well as the party that held the White House for seven out of nine Presidential terms from 1933 to 1969 ) , with its base in liberal ideas , the South , traditional Democrats , big city machines , and the newly empowered labor unions and ethnic minorities . The Republicans were split , with conservatives opposing the entire New Deal as an enemy of business and growth , and liberals accepting some of it and promising to make it more efficient . The realignment crystallized into the New Deal Coalition that dominated most presidential elections into the 1960s , while the opposing conservative coalition largely controlled Congress from 1939 to 1964 . By 1936 the term `` liberal '' typically was used for supporters of the New Deal , and `` conservative '' for its opponents . From 1934 to 1938 , Roosevelt was assisted in his endeavours by a `` pro-spender '' majority in Congress ( drawn from two-party , competitive , non-machine , Progressive , and Left party districts ) . As noted by Alexander Hicks , `` Roosevelt , backed by rare , non-Southern Democrat majorities -- 270 non-Southern Democrat representatives and 71 non-Southern Democrat senators -- spelled Second New Deal reform . '' In the 1938 midterm elections , however , Roosevelt and his liberal supporters lost control of Congress to the bipartisan conservative coalition .   Many historians distinguish between a `` First New Deal '' ( 1933 -- 34 ) and a `` Second New Deal '' ( 1935 -- 38 ) , with the second one more liberal and more controversial . The `` First New Deal '' ( 1933 -- 34 ) dealt with the pressing banking crises through the Emergency Banking Act and the 1933 Banking Act . The Federal Emergency Relief Administration provided $ 500 million ( $ today ) for relief operations by states and cities , while the short-lived Civil Works Administration ( CWA ) gave localities money to operate make-work projects in 1933 -- 34 . The Securities Act of 1933 was enacted to prevent a repeated stock market crash . The controversial work of the National Recovery Administration was also part of the First New Deal .   The `` Second New Deal '' in 1935 -- 38 included the Wagner Act to protect labor organizing , the Works Progress Administration ( WPA ) relief program ( which made the federal government by far the largest single employer in the nation ) , the Social Security Act , and new programs to aid tenant farmers and migrant workers . The final major items of New Deal legislation were the creation of the United States Housing Authority and Farm Security Administration ( FSA ) , both in 1937 , and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 , which set maximum hours and minimum wages for most categories of workers . The FSA was also one of the oversight authorities of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration which administered relief efforts to Puerto Rican citizens affected by the Great Depression .   The economic downturn of 1937 -- 38 , and the bitter split between the AFL and CIO labor unions led to major Republican gains in Congress in 1938 . Conservative Republicans and Democrats in Congress joined in the informal Conservative Coalition . By 1942 -- 43 they shut down relief programs such as the WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps ( CCC ) and blocked major liberal proposals . Roosevelt himself turned his attention to the war effort , and won reelection in 1940 and 1944 . The Supreme Court declared the National Recovery Administration ( NRA ) and the first version of the Agricultural Adjustment Act ( AAA ) unconstitutional , however the AAA was rewritten and then upheld . As the first Republican president elected after Franklin D. Roosevelt , Dwight D. Eisenhower ( 1953 -- 61 ) left the New Deal largely intact , even expanding it in some areas . In the 1960s , Lyndon B. Johnson 's Great Society used the New Deal as inspiration for a dramatic expansion of liberal programs , which Republican Richard M. Nixon generally retained . After 1974 , however , the call for deregulation of the economy gained bipartisan support . The New Deal regulation of banking ( Glass -- Steagall Act ) was suspended in the 1990s .   Many New Deal programs remain active , with some still operating under the original names , including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ( FDIC ) , the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation ( FCIC ) , the Federal Housing Administration ( FHA ) , and the Tennessee Valley Authority ( TVA ) . The largest programs still in existence today are the Social Security System and the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) .


New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States . It is bordered on the north and east by New York , on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean , on the west by Pennsylvania , and on the southwest by Delaware . New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state but the 11th-most populous and the most densely populated of the 50 United States . New Jersey lies entirely within the combined statistical areas of New York City and Philadelphia and is the second-wealthiest U.S. state by per capita income as of 2014 .   New Jersey was inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years , with historical tribes such as the Lenape along the coast . In the early 17th century , the Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements . The English later seized control of the region , naming it the Province of New Jersey after the largest of the Channel Islands , Jersey , and granting it as a colony to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley , 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton . New Jersey was the site of several decisive battles during the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century .   In the 19th century , factories in cities such as Camden , Paterson , Newark , Trenton , and Elizabeth helped to drive the Industrial Revolution . New Jersey 's geographic location at the center of the Northeast megalopolis , between Boston and New York City to the northeast , and Philadelphia , Baltimore , and Washington , D.C. , to the southwest , fueled its rapid growth through the process of suburbanization in the second half of the 20th century . In the first decades of the 21st century , this suburbanization began reverting to consolidation of New Jersey 's culturally diverse populace toward more urban settings within the state , with towns home to commuter rail stations outpacing the population growth of more automobile-oriented suburbs since 2008 .


New Orleans

New Orleans ( -LSB- nuː_ˈɔːrlᵻnz , _ - ˈɔːrli.ənz , _ - ɔːrˈliːnz -RSB- , or -LSB- ˈnɔːrlᵻnz -RSB- La Nouvelle-Orléans -LSB- la nuvɛlɔʁleɑ̃ -RSB- ) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana . The population of the city was 343,829 as of the 2010 U.S. Census . The New Orleans metropolitan area ( New Orleans -- Metairie -- Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area ) had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States . The New Orleans -- Metairie -- Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area , a larger trading area , had a 2010 population of 1,452,502 .   It is well known for its distinct French and Spanish Creole architecture , as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage . New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine , music ( particularly as the birthplace of jazz ) , and its annual celebrations and festivals , most notably Mardi Gras , dating to French colonial times . The city is often referred to as the `` most unique '' in the United States .   New Orleans is located in southeastern Louisiana , straddling the Mississippi River . The city and Orleans Parish ( paroisse d'Orléans ) are coterminous . The city and parish are bounded by the parishes of St. Tammany to the north , St. Bernard to the east , Plaquemines to the south , and Jefferson to the south and west . Lake Pontchartrain , part of which is included in the city limits , lies to the north and Lake Borgne lies to the east .   Before Hurricane Katrina , Orleans Parish was the most populous parish in Louisiana . As of 2015 , it ranks third in population , trailing neighboring Jefferson Parish , and East Baton Rouge Parish .


New Year

New Year is the time at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar 's year count increments by one .   Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner and the 1st day of January is often marked as a national holiday .   In the Gregorian calendar , the most widely used calendar system today , New Year occurs on 1 January ( New Year 's Day ) . This was also the case both in the old Roman calendar ( at least after about 713 BCE ) and in the Julian calendar that succeeded it .   Other calendars have been used historically in different parts of the world ; some calendars count years numerically , while others do not .   During the Middle Ages in western Europe , while the Julian calendar was still in use , authorities moved New Year 's Day variously , depending upon locale , to one of several other days , among them : 1 March , 25 March , Easter , 1 September , and 25 December . Beginning in 1582 , the adoptions of the Gregorian calendar and changes to the Old Style and New Style dates meant the various local dates for New Year 's Day changed to using one fixed date , January 1 .   The widespread official adoption of the Gregorian calendar and marking January 1 as the beginning of a new year is almost global now . Regional or local use of other calendars continue , along with the cultural and religious practices that accompany them . In Latin America , various native cultures continue the observation of traditions according to their own calendars . Israel , China , India and other countries , continue to celebrate New Year on different dates .   The most common dates of modern New Year 's celebrations are listed below , ordered and grouped by their alignment relative to the Gregorian calendar .