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鸟瞰蒙特雷附近的大苏尔海岸线，加利福尼亚州 Aerial view of the Big Sur coastline near Monterey, California (© Blue Planet Archive/Alamy)

Gray days ahead in Monterey

Grey whale migration is a rare scenery, thousands of gray whales, many with calves in tow, swim by this part of the Pacific coast as they migrate from the warm waters of Baja California to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea. Come winter, they pass by again on the swim south. The entire roundtrip route clocks in at about 12,000 miles, making gray whales among the longest migrators of animal kingdom. Because they travel close to the coastline, it's also one of the few whale migrations you can see from shore.

拉德克利夫图书馆，英国牛津 The Radcliffe Camera, Oxford, England for Tolkien Reading Day (© Joe Daniel Price/Getty Images)

It's Tolkien Reading Day

For Tolkien Reading Day, we're featuring Oxford University's Radcliffe Camera, home to the world's largest archive of J.R.R. Tolkien's original manuscripts and drawings. While Tolkien never worked in the Radcliffe Camera (Latin for 'room'), he both studied here at Oxford (graduating in 1915 with first-class honors in English language) and taught here as a professor of Anglo-Saxon and later as a professor of English language and literature.

During his years at Oxford, Tolkein wrote 'The Hobbit' and its sequel, 'The Lord of the Rings,' along with other books and research. In 2003, the Tolkien Society organized the first Tolkien Reading Day to celebrate and promote the works of Tolkien. They selected March 25 since it was the day that the Dark Lord Sauron was defeated and the Black Tower destroyed in the 'Lord of the Rings.'

Time-lapse video of lenticular clouds over Mount Rainier, Washington (© Delrious/Shutterstock)

A peak in the clouds

World Meteorological Day brings us to Washington's Mount Rainier, a huge stratovolcano with a habit of creating its own weather systems. Jutting out about 2 miles above the surrounding landscape, its high altitude interrupts the flow of air that comes in off the Pacific Ocean, creating unusual weather such as the saucer-shaped clouds on our homepage. They're called lenticular clouds, and because of their distinctive appearance, they've been suggested as an explanation for some UFO sightings. Thanks for the science of meteorology, we know they're a normal weather phenomenon, commonly occurring on the downwind side of obstructions such as mountains, buildings, or other tall structures.

斋浦尔琥珀堡附近当地妇女正在爬阶梯井，印度拉贾斯坦邦 Local women climbing a stepwell near Amber Fort in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India (© Shanna Baker/Offset)

Celebrating World Water Day

The stepwell that these women are climbing is an apt image to mark World Water Day. Stepwells originated in western India over a thousand years ago as way for locals in that arid climate to easily and reliably access freshwater—even during the driest months. The Panna Meena Ka Kund stepwell in Jaipur is a classic example of the beautiful, regular, geometric architecture used to produce these useful public works. Most stepwells also feature shaded side chambers where locals (primarily women) can gather to escape the heat of the day.

In this image, one can see obvious signs of previous high-water marks on the well's walls as seasonal fluctuations and the changing climate affect water levels throughout the region. The impact of climate change on freshwater accessibility is the theme that the United Nations has chosen for this year's World Water Day. The goal of today's observance is to focus attention and energy not just on those problems, but on potential solutions as well.

Portrait of poet Pablo Neruda projected on building, Santiago, Chile (© Mario Tellez/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

It's World Poetry Day

For World Poetry Day, we're seeing the stylized visage of poet Pablo Neruda projected on a building in his native Chile. World Poetry Day was established by UNESCO to acknowledge 'that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings.' Neruda, a Nobel laureate generally held up by Chileans as their national poet, made his early mark with famously racy love poetry. But his palette of questions and feelings evolved, expanding into surrealism, epic history, and radical politics. His death in 1973 after a bout with cancer was mourned publicly by Chileans—in defiance of newly installed dictator Augusto Pinochet, whom many Chileans link to Neruda's untimely passing.

For World Poetry Day, UNESCO encourages embracing the tradition of reciting poetry for an audience—so keep your eyes peeled for poetry slams and other gatherings of language lovers sure to take place around the world today. Care to prepare? Brush up on your poetry knowledge with today's quiz.

Loughrigg Tarn的日出，英国英格兰湖区安布尔塞德 (© John Finney photography/Getty Images)

一只苍鹭栖息在加利福尼亚索尔顿海的木桩上 A heron perches on a piling at the Salton Sea in California (© Garret Suhrie/Cavan Images)

Heron lies the Salton Sea

Migratory bird species are predictable frequent fliers, taking to the sky to travel along roughly the same route, at the same time, every year. Following sources of food and water along the way, the birds often fly great distances to reach breeding grounds or places to spend the winter. Today, we're looking at an important stopover for migratory birds—California's largest lake, the Salton Sea.

This shallow saline lake was formed when a dam broke in 1905, causing the Colorado River to flow into a 35-mile-long basin with extensive salt deposits. Now it attracts hundreds of species of birds in what is considered one of the most significant concentrations of bird life in the continental United States. Most of these birds are just passing through, migrating along the north-south route called the Pacific Flyway. They gather here, sometimes in the millions, to feed and regain strength before moving on. Some birds, like the heron pictured in today's photo, may stay here for the season, but most of those who visit in the spring will stay for just a few days before continuing their journey to a summer spot farther north.

柬埔寨吴哥窟的日出 Sunrise at Angkor Wat in Cambodia (© Sergio Diaz/Getty Images)

Sunburst at Angkor

Angkor Wat is the most famous Buddhist temple in Angkor—which is saying a lot, since Angkor Archaeological Park is essentially a 154-square-mile collection of historic temples and related holy sites just outside the city of Siem Reap. If you happen to visit Angkor Wat on the spring equinox, get there in time for sunrise. On the equinox, the sun aligns with the top of the main tower at Angkor Wat before climbing farther into the sky to usher in longer days and shorter nights. Of course, if this photo is any indication, every sunrise at Angkor Wat is spectacular.

NASA astronaut works on International Space Station during a spacewalk in 2006 (© NASA)

A stroll above the stratosphere

If this photo from 200-plus miles above Earth dizzies you, imagine how it felt to be Alexei Leonov on March 18, 1965. The Soviet cosmonaut achieved the first-ever extravehicular activity (EVA—but you and I just call it a spacewalk). He spent about 20 minutes outside the orbiting Voskhod 2 capsule. It was the ultimate risk: no one knew just what could happen to a human body in the vacuum of space. Near heatstroke, drenched with sweat, and with his suit dangerously inflating, Leonov barely made it back inside the airlock.

Of course, the art of EVA has been perfected since, and that vertigo-inducing panorama is now the view from the office for those aboard the International Space Station. The spacewalker you see here isn't Leonov but NASA's Robert Curbeam busily replacing a faulty component. On this mission in 2006, Curbeam set a record with four EVAs in one spaceflight, spending over 24 hours outside the vehicle. Since the ISS's first spacewalk in 1998, over 227 EVAs have been performed by a large cast of astronauts—including a milestone excursion in 2019 that employed the first all-female crew.

纽格兰奇墓，爱尔兰博因河谷 Knowth burial mound in Newgrange, Boyne Valley, Ireland for St Patrick's Day (© whatapicture/plainpicture)

It's a good day to be green

For St. Patrick's Day, we're featuring an image of the Knowth passage grave, part of the Boyne valley tombs, about an hour's drive north of Dublin. In addition to Knowth, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to the Newgrange and Dowth passage graves, henges, standing stones, and a significant portion of Western Europe's megalithic art. Knowth, the largest passage grave in the complex, is a 40-foot-high mound with a diameter of 220 feet; two east-west passages run under it that lead to separate burial chambers. The structures predate St. Patrick by nearly 4,000 years, and their original purpose is unclear—but on this day dedicated to celebrating all things Irish, they show off the engineering capabilities of the area's ancient population as well as the natural green beauty of the Irish countryside.