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Blooming cherry trees in Jerte Valley, Province of Cáceres, Spain (© Westend61/Getty Images)

Jerte Valley in bloom

As winter turns to spring in the Jerte Valley, all eyes are on the cherry blossoms. This tiny region in the Province of Cáceres, Spain, has the perfect microclimate for cherry trees, and there are more than 1.5 million of them here in just 23 square miles. The cherry blossoms last just two weeks before the petals rain down, covering the entire valley. About 40 days later, the first cherries are ready to be picked. Locals make wine, beer, and various foods with them. Cherries are also used for spa and beauty treatments, since they have antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, in addition to vitamins and ellagic acid.

泰河畔伊尔的Les Orgues，法国北加泰罗尼亚 (© SFL Choice/Alamy)

西耶斯塔海滩鸟瞰图，佛罗里达西耶斯塔岛 Aerial view of Siesta Beach, Siesta Key, Florida (© Julie Palermo/Getty Images)

Fiesta at Siesta

Here we are in mid-March already, the time of year when college-aged revelers invade the world's beaches, like this one on Florida's Siesta Key. Located in Sarasota County off the state's western shore, the island beach is a fixture on lists of America's top beaches, a standout even in a state where soft, welcoming sands compose over half the 1,200-mile coastline.

Using the onset of spring as an excuse to cut loose is nothing new, going back at least to the ancient Greeks and Romans. But spring break as we know it originated in the 1930s, when Fort Lauderdale began welcoming college swim teams for training. In March 1961, over 50,000 young people vacationed in the city. By the '70s, rising prices and increasing consternation of locals began driving the party from Fort Lauderdale to other Florida beaches, and eventually everywhere else. Tourist-vs.-townie tensions still go strong in spring break hotspots, but the party goes even stronger: throughout the spring break season, airlines can expect to serve around 400,000 more passengers each day than usual in the US alone.

瓦普斯克国家公园内向洞穴外张望的北极熊幼崽，加拿大马尼托巴 Polar bear cubs looking out of their den in Wapusk National Park in Manitoba, Canada (© Robert Harding/Alamy)

Anybody out there?

This is the time of year that polar bears emerge from their winter dens. In today's photo, these adorable cubs are peeking out for the first time in their young lives. Polar bears don't technically hibernate, but in fall, a pregnant female polar bear will dig a maternity den in the snow (although in some areas it'll be under the peat soil). While in her small den, the bear enters a dormant state, sleeping nearly all the time, until she gives birth, usually between November and February. Then, in spring she'll dig herself out and emerge with her recently arrived cubs. Polar bear cubs stay with their mother for about two years as they learn to survive in the Arctic.

The cubs in this photo are in Wapusk National Park in Manitoba, Canada, which is known as the 'Polar Bear Capital of the World.' It's one of the best places to see polar bears in their natural environment—especially when they move there in the fall, waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze before heading out to hunt for seals.

Brightly-coloured powder for sale during Holi (© Max Bauerfeind/Shutterstock)

Playing Holi, anyone?

Hindus in India and around the globe are celebrating Holi today, a spring celebration also called the festival of love, or the festival of colors. Why colors? Because these colorful powders are flung in joyous revelry to welcome spring and celebrate the blossoming of love. It is a time to forget old grievances and hope for a bountiful spring harvest season.

加拿大恶地里石窟上方的银河，加拿大亚伯达省德拉姆黑勒 (© Felis Images/Minden Pictures)

曼哈顿河滨公园中的圣女贞德纪念碑 The Joan of Arc Monument at Riverside Park in Manhattan (© Chase Guttman/Alamy)

Joan charges Riverside Park

Joan of Arc leads the charge through New York's Riverside Park for our celebration of International Women's Day. The 2020 Women's Day observance is particularly meaningful in the United States because this marks 100 years since American women won the right to vote nationwide. That victory was the result of a long, difficult struggle by suffragists—women who faced ridicule, slander, imprisonment, and outright brutality for their efforts to claim their right to vote.

Peak summer in the Southern Hemisphere

As the Northern Hemisphere slowly creeps toward spring, our neighbors to the south are enjoying the sunny days of summer. Some are even cooling off with a trip to the pool, like the swimmers in today's image of the Bronte Baths, an ocean pool located in a Sydney suburb. While seaside swimming pools aren't unique to Australia, this island country is known for its many oceanside pools, which provide sheltered spots for swimming in places where rocky shorelines and occasional shark attacks can make ocean swimming difficult or dangerous.

Dos Ojos自然公园里El Pit Cenote的潜水员，墨西哥金塔纳罗奥 Divers at El Pit Cenote, located in Dos Ojos Natural Park, Quintana Roo, Mexico (© Christia Vizl/Tandem Stills + Motion)

The desert blooms

It's getting to be wildflower season in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona. That means it won't be long before we see blooms from the big daddy of the cactus world–the saguaro. Our homepage pic shows just a glimpse of this amazing succulent. The saguaro is the largest cactus in the United States, capable of growing upwards of 50 feet tall and weighing several tons (that's when it's fully hydrated). It can live more than 100 years and will grow arms as it ages, creating that classic cactus profile that's associated with the desert and Old West. As for its flowers, they're short-lived, typically blooming at dusk and remaining open till midmorning the next day. The flowers form only at the top of the plant and the tips of branches. The blooms are striking enough to be honored as Arizona's state flower. Later they'll produce a red, edible fruit that will ripen by July.

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