The brown bear is a bear species, found across much of northern Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called "grizzly bears", it is one of the largest living terrestrial members of the order Carnivora, rivalled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, much less variable in size and larger on average. The brown bear's principal range includes parts of Russia, Central Asia, Canada, the United States, Hokkaido and the Carpathian region Romania and the Caucasus; the brown bear is recognized as a national and state animal in several European countries. While the brown bear's range has shrunk and it has faced local extinctions, it remains listed as a least concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature with a total population of 200,000; as of 2012, this and the American black bear are the only bear species not classified as threatened by the IUCN. Populations that were hunted to extinction in the 19th and 20th centuries are the Atlas bear of North Africa and the Californian and Mexican populations of the grizzly bear of North America.
Many of the populations in the southern parts of Eurasia are endangered as well. One of the smaller-bodied forms, the Himalayan brown bear, is critically endangered, occupying only 2% of its former range and threatened by uncontrolled poaching for its body parts; the Marsican brown bear of central Italy is one of several isolated populations of the Eurasian brown bear, believed to have a population of just 40 to 50 bears. The brown bear is sometimes referred to from Middle English; this name originated in the fable, History of Reynard the Fox, translated by William Caxton, from Middle Dutch bruun or bruyn, meaning brown. In the mid-19th century United States, the brown bear was termed "Old Ephraim" and sometimes as "Moccasin Joe"; the scientific name of the brown bear, Ursus arctos, comes from the Latin ursus, meaning "bear", from ἄρκτος arktos, the Greek word for bear. Brown bears are thought to have evolved from Ursus etruscus in Asia; the brown bear, per Kurten, has been stated as "clearly derived from the Asian population of Ursus savini about 800,000 years ago.
A genetic analysis indicated that the brown bear lineage diverged from the cave bear species complex 1.2–1.4 million years ago, but did not clarify if U. savini persisted as a paraspecies for the brown bear before perishing. The oldest fossils positively identified as from this species occur in China from about 0.5 million years ago. Brown bears entered North Africa shortly after. Brown bear remains from the Pleistocene period are common in the British Isles, where it is thought they might have outcompeted cave bears; the species entered Alaska 100,000 years ago. It is speculated that brown bears were unable to migrate south until the extinction of the much larger giant short-faced bear. Several paleontologists suggest the possibility of two separate brown bear migrations: inland brown bears known as grizzlies, are thought to stem from narrow-skulled bears which migrated from northern Siberia to central Alaska and the rest of the continent, while Kodiak bears descend from broad-skulled bears from Kamchatka, which colonized the Alaskan peninsula.
Brown bear fossils discovered in Ontario, Ohio and Labrador show that the species occurred farther east than indicated in historic records. In North America, two types of the subspecies Ursus arctos horribilis are recognized—the coastal brown bear and the inland grizzly bear. There are many methods used by scientists to define bear species and subspecies, as no one method is always effective. Brown bear taxonomy and subspecies classification has been described as "formidable and confusing" with few authorities listing the same specific set of subspecies. Genetic testing is now the most important way to scientifically define brown bear relationships and names. Genetic testing uses the word clade rather than species because a genetic test alone cannot define a biological species. Most genetic studies report on how related the bears are. There are hundreds of obsolete brown bear subspecies, each with its own name, this can become confusing. However, recent DNA analysis has identified as few as five main clades which contain all extant brown bears, while a 2017 phylogenetic study revealed nine clades, including one representing polar bears.
As of 2005, 15 extant or extinct subspecies were recognized by the general scientific community. As well as the exact number of overall brown bear subspecies, its precise relationship to the polar bear remains in debate; the polar bear is a recent offshoot of the brown bear. The point at which the polar bear diverged from the brown bear is unclear, with estimations based on genetics and fossils ranging from 400,000 to 70,000 years ago, but most recent analysis has indicated that the polar bear split somewhere between 275,000 and 150,000 years ago. Under some definitions, the brown bear can be construed as the paraspecies for the polar bear. DNA analysis shows that, apart from recent human-caused population fragmentation, brown bears in North America are part of a single interconnected population system, with the exception of the population in the Kodiak Archipelago, isolated since the en
Double Rainbow is a viral video filmed by Paul "Bear" Vasquez. The clip, filmed in his front yard just outside Yosemite National Park, in the U. S. state of California, shows his ecstatic reaction to a double rainbow which he described as the "Eye of God". As of July 2019, the 53-year-old farmer's video has accumulated more than 46 million views on YouTube. Vasquez is a native of East Los Angeles. After two years, he re-settled in Yosemite in 1985 buying an eight-acre plot, marrying with two children before divorcing, becoming a truck driver and participating in a single mixed martial arts bout. Vasquez lived on a mobile farm outside Mariposa, California 10 miles from Yosemite, where he operated a farm and uploaded occasional videos of his life. Paul Vasquez posted the video to YouTube himself as user Hungrybear9562 on January 8, 2010. On July 3, comedian and late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel linked to the video in a post on Twitter, saying that he and a friend had declared it the "funniest video in the world."
The video gained over one million views. A July 16 feature on the video by CNN.com stated. The video gained Vasquez a feature on the comedy show Tosh.0. ABC News describes the video as "a three-and-a-half-minute emotional journey," with Vasquez confirming his sobriety during recording. On July 26, 2010, Bear was interviewed by Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. On the December 16 episode, he was awarded Video of the Year and appeared in a video short created by the show for the event. On July 5, 2010, the Gregory Brothers auto-tuned the video under the name "Double Rainbow Song", their video has since gotten over 39 million views and has become a viral video in itself surpassing the original in number of views. The song has been covered by Amanda Palmer, Jimmy Fallon and The Axis of Awesome during a live recording of a charity show in the UK. In 2011, Vasquez appeared in a commercial for Vodafone New Zealand; the video appears as the first scene of the 2013 movie We're the Millers. Two years earlier, Bear had appeared in Jennifer Aniston's ad for Smartwater.
On May 9, 2016, Bear appeared on the Slooh live broadcast of the Transit of Mercury. Part of Slooh's goal was to capture a diverse history of Mercury, how it has been interpreted throughout the years, the meanings people have attributed to it. With an enormous smile, he discussed his excitement for the rare event. Like the day he saw the Double Rainbow, Bear felt that the Mercury Transit had significant life meaning for him. In this way, Bear was able to provide a sense of wonder and joy that shows the deep connection people feel for the cosmos; this video was featured in 2016 YouTube's April Fool prank and it can be watched with Snoop Dogg in 360 "SnoopaVision". The original video, titled "Yosemitebear Mountain Giant Double Rainbow 1-8-10" on YouTube
Hurricane Walaka was one of the most intense hurricanes on record for the Central Pacific Basin. By minimum pressure, Walaka is the second-strongest tropical cyclone in central Pacific, alongside Hurricane Gilma in 1994, is only surpassed by Hurricane Ioke in 2006; the nineteenth named storm, twelfth hurricane, eighth major hurricane, second Category 5 hurricane of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season, Walaka originated from an area of low pressure that formed over a thousand miles south-southeast of Hawaii on September 25. The National Hurricane Center tracked the disturbance for another day or so before it moved into the Central Pacific Basin; the Central Pacific Hurricane Center monitored the disturbance from that time until September 29, when the system organized into Tropical Storm Walaka. Walaka strengthened, becoming a hurricane on October 1. Walaka began to intensify, reaching Category 5 intensity by early on October 2. An eyewall replacement cycle caused some weakening of the hurricane, though it remained a powerful storm for the next day or so.
Afterward, less favorable conditions caused a steady weakening of the hurricane, Walaka became extratropical on October 6, well to the north of the Hawaiian Islands. The storm's remnants accelerated northeastward, before dissipating on October 9. Although the hurricane did not impact any major landmasses, it passed close to the unpopulated Johnston Atoll as a strong Category 4 hurricane, where a hurricane warning was issued in advance of the storm. Four scientists there intended to ride out the storm on the island, but were evacuated before the storm hit. Walaka neared the far Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, but weakened as it did so. East Island in the French Frigate Shoals suffered a direct hit and was destroyed. Walaka originated from a trough of low pressure that the National Hurricane Center first forecasted on September 22; the NHC forecasted a low-pressure area to form in the far western portion of the east North Pacific within a few days. Early on September 25, a trough of low pressure formed 1,600 miles south-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii.
The NHC continued to monitor the disturbance for another day or so until it moved into the Central Pacific Hurricane Center's area of responsibility on September 26 at 12:00 UTC. The CPHC monitored the disturbance for another few days until the system organized into Tropical Storm Walaka on September 29 at 21:00 UTC. Environmental conditions, including low wind shear, high sea surface temperatures and ample moisture supported steady—perhaps rapid—intensification into a powerful hurricane. Over the next twelve hours, the system showed little change in intensity before strengthening into a strong tropical storm, as a strong central dense overcast became established. Over the next twelve hours, Walaka strengthened, becoming a hurricane at 03:00 UTC on October 1. Explosive intensification ensued as a small, well-defined eye formed, with Walaka reaching major hurricane status early that morning. Rapid intensification culminated at 00:00 UTC on October 2, when the storm peaked as a Category 5 hurricane, with 1-minute sustained winds of 160 mph and a central pressure of 920 mbar.
This made Walaka the second-most intense hurricane in the Central Pacific by pressure, the second Category 5 hurricane recorded in the same year—Lane was the other storm of such intensity. Unrelated to Walaka, Typhoon Kong-rey developed and intensified into a Category 5-equivalent super typhoon around the same time Walaka reached its peak intensity, marking the first time since 2005 when two tropical cyclones of Category 5 strength existed in the Northern Hemisphere. Soon afterward, Walaka began to undergo an eyewall replacement cycle, which subsequently caused weakening, the eye became less defined. For the next day or so, Walaka remained a powerful hurricane as it turned northward, due to a ridge of high pressure to its northeast. However, as the hurricane moved into a less favorable environment on October 4, Walaka began to lose its intensity again; that day, Walaka fell below major hurricane status as it travelled north, away from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. At this time, it was noted that Walaka's low-level circulation center was exposed in the southwest quadrant due to strong wind shear.
Weakening accelerated the next day as all deep convection was being sheared away, Walaka weakened into a tropical storm on October 4. At 09:00 UTC on the next day, it was noted that Walaka was beginning to transition into an extratropical system as it continued north, under the influence of deep southwesterly flow. At 15:00 UTC on October 6, Walaka transitioned into an extratropical cyclone 1,085 miles north-northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. Afterward, Walaka's extratropical remnant weakened while accelerating northeastward, reaching the Gulf of Alaska on October 8. On October 9, Walaka's remnant was absorbed by another frontal system over British Columbia. On September 30, a hurricane watch was issued for Johnston Atoll. Early on the next day, the hurricane watch was upgraded to a hurricane warning. A crew of four scientists on the isolated Johnston Atoll planned on riding out the storm in an evacuation shelter, until the United States Fish and Wildlife Service sought an emergency evacuation on October 1.
On the next day, the United States Coast Guard flew a plane from Kalaeloa Airport to evacuate the personnel. The hurricane warning for Johnston Atoll was discontinued on October 3. Early on October 2, a hurricane watch was issued for the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument from Nihoa to French Friga