title: XGBoost

text: While the XGBoost model often achieves higher accuracy than a single decision tree, it sacrifices the intrinsic interpretability of decision trees.  For example, following the path that a decision tree takes to make its decision is trivial and self-explained, but following the paths of hundreds or thousands of trees is much harder. To achieve both performance and interpretability, some model compression techniques allow transforming an XGBoost into a single "born-again" decision tree that approximates the same decision function.


title: XGBoost

text: XGBoost works as Newton-Raphson in function space unlike gradient boosting that works as gradient descent in function space, a second order Taylor approximation is used in the loss function to make the connection to Newton Raphson method.


title: XGBoost

text: Input: training set formula_1, a differentiable loss function formula_2, a number of weak learners formula_3 and a learning rate formula_4.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: The Clone Wars are a series of fictional conflicts in the "Star Wars" franchise by George Lucas. Though mentioned briefly in the first "Star Wars" film ("A New Hope", 1977), the war itself was not depicted until "" (2002) and "" (2005). The Clone Wars are also the setting for three eponymous projects: (2003–2005), (2008), and (2008–2014, 2020). They have featured in numerous "Star Wars" books and games.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: Within the "Star Wars" narrative, the Clone Wars involve a three-year war fought to prevent thousands of planetary systems from seceding from the Galactic Republic and forming the "Confederacy of Independent Systems", often referred to as "the Separatists". The Republic uses an army of clone troopers, the namesake of the conflict, led by the Jedi Order against the Separatist battle droid army. The conflict was manufactured as a scheme for the Republic's Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who as the evil Sith Lord Darth Sidious, was secretly manipulating the war upon the first battle of Geonosis. Palpatine secretly seeks to wipe out all Jedi upon giving the command for Order 66 at the end of the war. This would allow him to gain total power and ultimately convert the democratic Galactic Republic into the autocratic Galactic Empire, which was controlled through means of a military–industrial complex and featured in the original trilogy.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: Lucas used the Clone Wars narrative to answer questions about the original trilogy, such as how the Empire originated and how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. The political and military events of the Clone Wars draw inspiration from real-world conflicts and historical events, such as transition of the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire and the First and Second World Wars, as well as contemporary events such as the War on Terror and the Bush administration during the early 21st century.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: The first reference to the Clone Wars is in "Star Wars" creator George Lucas' third draft of the first film, which mentions the grizzled cyborg General Kenobi's "diary of the Clone Wars". The wars were mentioned twice briefly in the final version of the film, referring to Obi-Wan Kenobi as a general who served Leia Organa's (then-unnamed) father Bail Organa during the conflict. In drafting "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980), Lucas considered introducing a clone character who had been involved with the Clone Wars. Leigh Brackett's first draft of the film initially developed Lando Calrissian as a clone from a planet of clones involved in the Clone Wars mentioned in "A New Hope" and were nearly made extinct by the war. Boba Fett was also initially considered as being from a group of shocktroopers nearly wiped out by Jedi during the Clone Wars. However, these concepts were not included in the final version of the film. Lucas was more guarded about the details of the Clone Wars than any other element of "Star Wars", even making them off-limits to licensed products and books.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: Lucas has noted that Palpatine's rise to power is similar to that of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany; as Chancellor of Germany, the latter was granted "emergency powers", as is Palpatine. Lucas has also said that one of the primary influences for the political backdrop behind the Clone Wars, and all of "Star Wars," was the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal era, when leaders embraced corruption for what they thought was the best course of action. In 2002, Lucas said:


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: The clone forces shown at the conclusion of "Attack of the Clones" comprised the largest digital army created for a film at that point. Lucas proposed to concept artists that "Revenge of the Sith" would open with a montage of seven battles on seven planets. Lucas then radically re-organized the plot; instead of opening the film with various Clone Wars battles, Lucas decided instead to focus on Anakin Skywalker. The absence of the "seven battles on seven planets" in part led to Lucas's decision to launch the CGI-animated "Clone Wars" television series; Lucas said the cartoon could "do better" at depicting the conflict.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: The Clone Wars was first depicted in "Attack of the Clones", the release of which brought an end to Lucas's embargo on licensed material set during the era. Numerous novels, comic books, and video games exploring the conflict have been sanctioned by Lucas Licensing.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: The Clone Wars are first mentioned in "A New Hope", when Obi-Wan explains to Luke that his father fought in them, to which Luke expresses doubt. It is later mentioned by Leia in her message that Obi-Wan served her father, who will later be identified as Bail Organa, in the Clone Wars.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: "Attack of the Clones", set at the beginning of the wars, opens with the Galactic Republic's rising concern about the secession of thousands of star systems to the Confederacy of Independent Systems, which is publicly led by Count Dooku. Chancellor Palpatine manipulates Jar Jar Binks and the rest of the Galactic Senate into granting him emergency powers. Investigating two attempted assassinations of Senator Padmé Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi discovers Dooku used the identity of a dead Jedi master to secretly arrange the creation of a massive clone army on the Republic's behalf. Yoda leads the clone army to rescue Obi-Wan, Padmé, and Anakin Skywalker from the Separatists on Geonosis, and the first battle of the war ensues. At the battle's conclusion, Yoda declares: "Begun, the Clone War has." In the final scene of the movie, Anakin and Padmé get married in secret, in violation of Anakin's Jedi vows.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: "Revenge of the Sith" shows the waning days of the three-year Clone Wars, in which clone soldiers and their Jedi generals have fought against the Separatist droid army. After killing Dooku and rescuing Palpatine from the Separatists during their assault on Coruscant, Anakin learns Padmé is pregnant. He becomes troubled by visions of her death in childbirth, and Palpatine lures Anakin to the dark side of the Force by promising to teach him how to prevent her premature demise. Meanwhile, Yoda is dispatched to Kashyyyk to stave off a Separatist invasion, and Obi-Wan Kenobi is dispatched to Utapau where he kills General Grievous. Anakin discovers Palpatine is the elusive Sith Lord Darth Sidious, but he defends him against Mace Windu because he needs Palpatine's knowledge to save Padmé. After Palpatine murders Windu, he dubs Anakin his new apprentice Darth Vader. Palpatine orders the clone troopers to execute Order 66, and clones kill their Jedi generals across the galaxy. Palpatine then dispatches Vader to the Jedi Temple along with several clone troopers to kill the remaining Jedi and Padawans in the temple, before sending Vader to kill the Separatist leaders on Mustafar and to issue a "shutdown command" to their droid army. With their demise, Palpatine declares an end to the Clone Wars and the Republic's reformation into the Galactic Empire.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: The series (2003–2005) depicts several Clone Wars battles and was meant to generate interest in "Revenge of the Sith". It also depicts the prelude to the opening battle of "Revenge of the Sith" and Palpatine's capture by General Grievous. It was released on home video in two volumes.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: The original "Clone Wars" TV series is no longer considered canonical, since on 25 April 2014 The Walt Disney Company declared that all the existing "Star Wars" works and products except for the original and prequel films and the later "The Clone Wars" were now part of the separate "Star Wars Legends" continuity.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: Several years later, Lucas chose to reboot the series as a 3D CGI series developed by Dave Filoni. After several years of production on the new television series, Lucas decided to spin off the first four episodes as . The film, released in 2008, introduces Ahsoka Tano as Anakin's apprentice and depicts the Republic and the Separatists battling and attempting to gain permission to travel through Jabba the Hutt's territory.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: The (2008–2014, 2020) is likewise set against the backdrop of the Clone Wars, with the series finale taking place at the same time as the climax of "Revenge of the Sith". The show offers additional details about the clone army's creation, establishes each of the clones as distinct characters, depicts numerous confrontations and developments from the conflict, and portrays the interaction between the clone troopers and their Jedi commanders. For example, the series reveals that each clone has an "inhibitor chip" in his body that makes most of them obey Order 66.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: The 2008 by Karen Traviss begins a series of five novels by Traviss and Karen Miller published by Del Rey Books between 2008 and 2010. "The Clone Wars: Wild Space" (2008) was written by Miller and focuses on Obi-Wan and Bail Organa. Traviss returned to write "The Clone Wars: No Prisoners" (2009), in which Ahsoka is temporarily assigned to Captain Rex. Finally, Miller wrote the two-part "Clone Wars Gambit" (2010), subtitled "Stealth" and "Siege", which deals with a bioweapon threat by Neimoidian general Lok Durd.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: "" (2015) novelizes a story arc about Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos from eight unfinished episodes of "The Clone Wars". "" (2016) is set during the Clone Wars and the subsequent couple of years. "" (2018) features flashbacks to the last year of the war featuring Anakin, Padmé, and Thrawn. "Brotherhood" (2022) is set during the Clone Wars, focusing on Obi-Wan and Anakin.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: Dark Horse Comics published various comics set during the era, many of which were collected in a series of trade paperbacks over nine volumes. Dark Horse also published a ten-volume graphic novella series titled "Clone Wars – Adventures" (2004–07), utilizing the style of the 2D animated series and depicting original stories set during the era. A series of comics tying into the 3D animated series was released from 2008 to 2010, collected in three volumes, and was supplemented by an series of graphic novellas released between 2008 and 2013.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: Marvel's comic series "Kanan" (sometimes subtitled "The Last Padawan") depicts the "Star Wars Rebels" character Kanan Jarrus as Jedi Padawan Caleb Dume during the conflict.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: Comparisons have been made between the political aspects of the Clone Wars and the events leading up to World War II. Radio host Clyde Lewis' article on historical similarities in "Star Wars" claims that Palpatine's tactics parallel those of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany; both leaders used wars and scapegoats to manipulate society's emotional state, thus providing the leadership with support and power. Another writer compares the Clone Wars with World War II in general, basing his argument on the fact that Lucas was a baby boomer, and the dark times featured in the original trilogy rival the dark, uncertain Cold War. Referring to Lucas's statements that the conflict in "Star Wars" was inspired by the cultural backdrop of the Vietnam War, journalist Chris Taylor said the Clone Wars are a parallel to World War II. Anne Lancashire from the University of Toronto also points out some similar nomenclature between the Clone Wars and the American Civil War.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: Several publications compared the political context of the Clone Wars to the Iraq War. In claiming that the "Star Wars" galaxy under the deceitful Palpatine parallels the modern issues of the United States, an editorial on Antiwar.com states that "Star Wars" "establishes first the generally agreeable premise that it's right to overthrow oppressive government, before bringing into focus something more discomforting – that the corrupt tyranny referred to is our own". Additionally, an article from Wiretap claims that "like Palpatine, the Bush administration has been able to feed on people's fears to gain more power". Lucas stated that the Iraq war "didn't exist" when he developed the Clone Wars, but he did see parallels between the Vietnam War that inspired "Star Wars" and the war in Iraq. "Star Wars" producer Rick McCallum corroborated that the Clone Wars was developed before the Iraq War, adding that Lucas "is a product of Vietnam".


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: The author of "How Star Wars Conquered the Universe", Chris Taylor, calls the Clone Wars "a major part of Star Wars lore". In its attempt to keep its "Star Wars" line of toys active after "Return of the Jedi" (1983), Kenner devised a storyline that would involve the return of an exiled "genetic terrorist" and his Clone Warriors.


title: Clone Wars (Star Wars)

text: Timothy Zahn said the clones' unexpected appearance fighting for "the good guys" in "Attack of the Clones"—despite many years of fan speculation that the clones were an invading force—was "wonderfully blindsid[ing]". After seeing the CGI "Clone Wars" television show, Zahn was grateful that Lucasfilm rejected his initial "Heir to the Empire" draft, which involved an insane clone of Obi-Wan created during the conflict.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: On 11 April 2001, the Australian and American Samoan national association football teams played each other in an Oceanian qualifying match for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. The match was played at the International Sports Stadium in Coffs Harbour, Australia. Australia set a world record for the largest victory in an international football match, winning the game 31–0. Australia's Archie Thompson also broke the record for most goals scored by a player in an international match by scoring 13 goals. David Zdrilic, the scorer of eight goals in the match, scored the second-highest number of goals in an international match since World War I.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: The outcome of the match led to debates about the format of qualification tournaments, with the Australian manager Frank Farina and Thompson feeling that preliminary rounds should be introduced to avoid such unbalanced matches, views shared by the international footballing body FIFA. It eventually led to the introduction of a preliminary round in the Oceanian zone qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The unbalanced level of opponents was also addressed by Australia's move to the Asian Football Confederation in 2006.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: The first attempt from Oceanian teams to qualify for the FIFA World Cup came at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. In subsequent tournaments, they entered joint qualification competitions with the Asian zone until a separate qualification round for the Oceania Football Confederation was introduced in 1986. By the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification tournament, this had grown to a competition with ten teams entering. The ten teams were divided into two groups of five teams, where each team played against each other once. The two group winners would advance to the final round and play against each other in a home-and-away format. The winner of Oceania would advance to the intercontinental play-off round against the fifth best team in the South American zone for a place in the World Cup. Australia and American Samoa were placed in Group 1 along with Fiji, Samoa and Tonga with the matches to be played at Coffs Harbour, Australia in April 2001.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: Australia and New Zealand were widely recognised as the strongest teams in the Oceanian zone. They were the only teams to have won the OFC Nations Cup, and the only ones to have qualified for the World Cup: Australia had qualified in 1974 and New Zealand in 1982. American Samoa was one of the weakest teams in the world, having lost all of their official international matches since they had joined FIFA in 1998. Before the match, Australia was ranked 75th in the FIFA World Rankings, while American Samoa was ranked 203rd, the lowest of all FIFA members.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: Two days before the match, Australia recorded a 22–0 win over Tonga, breaking the previous record for the largest winning margin in an international match, held by Kuwait who won 20–0 against Bhutan in 2000. American Samoa had suffered two losses before the match, a 13–0 loss to Fiji and an 8–0 loss to Samoa.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: Australia fielded a team with several rarely used players as many regulars were either rested or omitted from the team. Strikers John Aloisi and Damian Mori who combined for 10 goals in the 22–0 win over Tonga were also omitted for this match. The American Samoa team were troubled by passport issues, with only one member of their original 20-man senior team, goalkeeper Nicky Salapu, eligible to play. He was named captain for the match. American Samoa was also unable to call their under-20 players because most of them were involved in high school exams at the time. They were forced to draft in youth players, including three 15-year-old players, to put together a makeshift team with an average age of 18. According to team manager and Football Federation American Samoa vice-president Tony Langkilde, some of the team's players had never played a full 90-minute match before the match with Australia.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: American Samoa held Australia scoreless for the first ten minutes of play until Con Boutsianis scored Australia's first goal from a corner kick. Archie Thompson scored his first goal in the 12th minute. His strike partner David Zdrilic added his first goal a minute later. Tony Popovic added two successive goals in the 17th and 19th minutes to extend Australia's lead to 6–0. In the 25th minute, Zdrilic achieved a hat-trick, making the score 9–0 for Australia. Thompson then scored 6 of the next 7 goals as Australia led 16–0 at half-time. Thompson led Australia in scoring with 8 goals at half-time and Zdrilic had 4 goals.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: Boutsianis, who scored the first goal of the first half, scored the first goal of the second half in the 50th minute. Boutsianis later added another goal to complete his hat-trick. Thompson and Zdrilic added 5 and 4 goals to finish with 13 and 8 goals, respectively. Boutsianis finished with 3 goals, while Popovic, Aurelio Vidmar and Simon Colosimo scored 2 goals each and substitute Fausto De Amicis netting once. In the 86th minute, despite being down by 29 goals, American Samoa managed to launch an attack towards Australia's goal when Pati Feagiai had a shot, which was saved by Michael Petkovic. That was American Samoa's only shot on goal.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: The large number of goals created confusion over the correct scoreline. At the end of the match, the scoreboard at the stadium showed 32–0 and Thompson was credited with 14 goals. After the statistician did a recount, the 31–0 scoreline was announced and Thompson's total goal count was reduced to 13. After the match, FIFA went on to release the official statistics after receiving the official report from the referee and match officials, which confirmed the 31–0 scoreline and Thompson's 13 goals.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: Australia's 31–0 win broke their own record for the largest winning margin in an international match, a 22–0 win over Tonga recorded two days earlier in the same competition. Both wins surpassed the previous record held by Kuwait in a 20–0 win over Bhutan in the 2000 Asian Cup qualification. The match also broke the record for the largest margin in a World Cup qualification match. The previous record was held by Iran in a 19–0 win over Guam in the 2002 World Cup qualification.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: Apart from team records, individual records were also broken in the match. Australia's Thompson, who only had two international caps and one international goal before the match, scored 13 goals and broke the record for most goals scored in an international match. Zdrilic scored 8 goals and was widely reported as having recorded the second-most goals scored in an international match, after Thompson's 13 goals. His figure was less than the previous record of 10 goals, which was achieved by Denmark's Sophus Nielsen at the 1908 Olympics and Germany's Gottfried Fuchs at the 1912 Olympics. Nevertheless, this made Zdrilic's total the second highest in almost 90 years. Thompson also equalled the world record for most goals scored in a recognised senior match, set in 1885 when John Petrie scored 13 goals in Arbroath's 36–0 win over Bon Accord in a Scottish Cup match. The previous record in a World Cup qualifying match was seven goals and was jointly held by another Australian, Gary Cole, against Fiji in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers on 14 August 1981 and Iranian Karim Bagheri against the Maldives in the 1998 World Cup Asian qualifiers on 2 June 1997.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: Australia's manager Frank Farina criticised the qualification format and questioned the need for these kinds of matches. Thompson, who scored a record-setting 13 goals, was delighted with his record, but he also agreed with Farina's comments. FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper agreed with both comments and suggested a change in the qualification format, with the smaller teams entering a preliminary round. However, Oceania Football Confederation chairman Basil Scarsella opposed both comments and claimed that the smaller teams have the right to face Australia and New Zealand, similar to Australia having the right to face stronger opponents such as Brazil and France.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: This match and the other lopsided victories in the qualification partially contributed towards the reintroduction of a preliminary round for smaller teams in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers to avoid these one-sided matches. The significant gap between Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the teams in the Oceanian zone was one of the reasons behind Australia leaving the OFC at the end of 2006 to join the more competitive Asian Football Confederation (AFC). From the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers onwards, Australia participated in the Asian zone qualification phase.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: The American Samoan team did not feel down-hearted and even embraced and sang to the audience as the match finished. Salapu declared that he enjoyed the match and "wasn't embarrassed because we all learned something from it. If we had all our players, maybe it would have been only five or six goals, because I was without my best defenders and there was nothing I could do." Tony Langkilde also defended the goalkeeper, saying that he "kept the score down with a magnificent display". He also stated that "now we are recognised by FIFA, it has really helped spark an interest in football on the islands." Samoan manager Tunoa Lui commented that football was being played in the Samoan elementary and high schools and "in five years, we will be competitive."


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: American Samoa closed their qualification campaign with a 5–0 loss to Tonga, finishing bottom of the group with a −57 goal difference in four matches without scoring. Australia continued their qualification campaign with a 2–0 win over Fiji and an 11–0 win over Samoa, winning the group with a +66 goal difference in four matches without conceding a single goal.


title: Australia 31–0 American Samoa

text: Australia then defeated New Zealand, the other group winners, with an aggregate score of 6–1. By winning the Oceanian zone, they advanced to the inter-continental play-off round against Uruguay, the fifth best team in the South American zone, where they were defeated with an aggregate score of 1–3, therefore failing to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: Sarkar () is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language political crime thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan in the title role alongside Abhishek Bachchan as his younger son, along with Kay Kay Menon, Katrina Kaif, Tanisha Mukherjee, Supriya Pathak, Kota Srinivasa Rao, and Anupam Kher. It is the first installment of the "Sarkar" film series.


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: "Sarkar" spawned two sequels: "Sarkar Raj", which released on 6 June 2008, and "Sarkar 3", which released on 12 May 2017. "Sarkar" was premiered at the New York Asian Film Festival. The film is preserved at the American Academy of Motion Pictures library.


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: Subhash Nagre, who is known by his followers as Sarkar, lives in Mumbai. The opening scenes show a rape victim's father approaching Sarkar for justice (which the corrupt law and order system has failed to deliver), which Sarkar promptly establishes by having the rapist beaten up by his henchmen. His son Vishnu plays a sleazy producer who is more interested in the film actress Sapna than his wife Amrita. Sarkar's other, more upright son Shankar returns from the United States with his love Pooja after completing his education there. Pooja's doubts about Sarkar's image eventually cause Shankar, who firmly believes in his father's righteousness, to break up with her.


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: One day, a Dubai-based don, Rasheed, tries to strike a deal with Sarkar; he promptly refuses on moral grounds and also forbids him from doing it himself. Rasheed tries to eliminate Sarkar's supremacy with the help of Selvar Mani, Sarkar's former associate, MLA Vishram Bhagat, and Swami Virendra. Meanwhile, they trap Sarkar by assassinating a righteous, upright, Ahinsa political leader and an outspoken critic of Sarkar, Motilal Khurana, and frame Sarkar for the murder. Everyone, including Vishnu, believes that Sarkar is guilty, but Shankar has deep faith in his father. Sarkar is arrested and imprisoned. Shankar now takes over the position of Sarkar temporarily. On learning of a plot to murder his father in prison, he approaches the police commissioner and asks him to arrange stronger security for his father, only for the commissioner to mock Shankar and his father beside not providing protection. Shankar gets a feeling that the police commissioner wants Sarkar to get murdered. Shankar and Khansaab, one of Sarkar's men, try to ask Mani for help to prevent possible murder, but Mani ultimately betrays them when he reveals that he is in an alliance with Rasheed. Rasheed prepares to kill Shankar and Khansaab, but only Khansaab is killed when he decides to sacrifice himself for Shankar. By the time Shankar reaches the prison and appropriate action is taken, the attempt on Sarkar's life is already made. Sarkar is later acquitted. He remains bedridden as Shankar takes on Sarkar's enemies.


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: Meanwhile, Mani, Swami, Vishram, and Rasheed try to convince Vishnu to murder Sarkar. Vishnu was previously expelled from Sarkar's house because he had murdered the actor who was having an affair with Sapna. Vishnu returns home pretending to have repented. When he approaches Sarkar in the dark of the night with the intent of murdering him, Shankar foils his plan and later kills him. Shankar eliminates Rasheed, Vishram, and Selvar Mani. He also succeeds in making Swami his puppet. Shankar has also realised that Chief Minister Madan Rathod was really behind everything; Rasheed and everyone else were merely pawns. This results in legal action against Rathod. The closing scenes show a woman approaching Shankar for justice to a fake encounter of her husband by the police and calling Shankar the Sarkar, while Subhash is busy with family.


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: "Sarkar"'s director Ram Gopal Varma was deeply influenced by the Francis Ford Coppola's Hollywood classic "The Godfather" (1972). He picked some aspects of story of "The Godfather" and added them to "Sarkar"'s script, and also changed the film's setting to modern-day Mumbai.


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: The soundtrack of "Sarkar" consists of 10 songs composed by Bapi-Tutul & Prasanna Shekhar the lyrics of which were penned by Sandeep Nath.


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: Raja Sen of "Rediff" said that the film "had the potential to be great. It turns out to be passable." Taran Adarsh of "Bollywood Hungama" praised the movie saying that, ""Sarkar" is without doubt an interesting film. The story, its execution, the performances, the drama… The outcome leaves you spellbound." but criticized the slow pacing of the film and gave it a rating of 3.5 out of 5. William Thomas of "Empire Online" gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "Constructed with flair and crackling with intelligence, this is one of the most edgiest and grittiest releases to come out of Bollywood in years."


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: Abhishek Bachchan won multiple awards for his performance in the film, namely Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award, Zee Cine Award Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Male, and IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor.


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: A Telugu remake, titled Rowdy was made replacing the background of Marathi politics with that of South Indian factionism. Veteran actor Mohan Babu reprised the role portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan while his son Vishnu Manchu reprised the role played by Abhishek Bachchan. Rowdy released on 4 April 2014 to positive reviews from critics but was a moderate commercial success, grossing approximately Rs 8 Crores in its full run.


title: Sarkar (2005 film)

text: A sequel titled "Sarkar Raj" was released on 6 June 2008 with Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan (who reprise their roles from the original) and new entrant Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Supriya Pathak, Tanisha Mukherjee and Ravi Kale also reappeared in their respective roles from "Sarkar". The film released on 6 June 2008, was both critically and commercially successful.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has hosted the FIA Formula One French Grand Prix intermittently from to , and every year from to as well as from to .


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: Opened on 19 April 1970, the circuit's innovative facilities made it one of the safest motor racing circuits in the world at the time of its opening. The circuit had three track layout permutations, a large industrial park and an airstrip. The combination of modern facilities, mild winter weather and an airstrip made it popular amongst racing teams for car testing during the annual winter off-season.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: The original track was dominated by the long Mistral Straight that is followed by the high-speed right hand Signes corner. The long main straight and other fast sections made the track very hard on engines as they ran at full revs for extended spells. Engine failures were common, such as Ayrton Senna's huge crash during the 1985 French Grand Prix after the Renault engine in his Lotus failed and he went off backwards at Signes on his own oil and crashed heavily, with only light bruising to the driver. Nigel Mansell crashed at the same place in the same weekend during practice and suffered a concussion which kept him out of the race. Mansell's crash was the result of a slow puncture in his left rear tyre causing it to explode at over , which detached his Williams FW10's rear wing. The Honda powered FW10 holds the race lap record for the original circuit when Mansell's teammate Keke Rosberg recorded a time of 1:39.914 during the 1985 French Grand Prix. During qualifying for the 1985 race, Swiss driver Marc Surer clocked what was at the time the highest speed recorded by a Formula One car on the Mistral when he pushed his turbocharged, Brabham-BMW to . This compared to the slowest car in the race, the naturally aspirated Tyrrell-Ford V8 of Stefan Bellof which could only manage . Bellof qualified 9 seconds slower than Surer and 12 seconds slower than pole winner Rosberg.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: Paul Ricard was inaugurated with a 2-litre sports car race; during the 1970s and the 1980s the track developed some of the best French drivers of the time including four time World Drivers' Champion Alain Prost who won the French Grand Prix at the circuit in 1983, 1988, 1989 and 1990. The circuit hosted the Formula One French Grand Prix on many occasions, the first of which was the 1971 French Grand Prix.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: The circuit was also extensively used for testing, especially in Formula One. In 1986, Brabham Formula One driver Elio de Angelis was killed in a testing accident at the fast first turn after the rear wing of his Brabham BT55 had broken off. Although the circuit was not the cause of the crash, it was modified in order to make it safer. The length of the Mistral Straight was reduced from in length to just over , and the fast sweeping Verrerie curves where de Angelis had crashed were bypassed. Effectively, after the start, instead of heading into the left hand Verrerie sweeper, cars now braked hard and turned sharp right into a short run that connected the pit straight to the Mistral. This changed the circuit length for a Grand Prix from to just . This also had the effect of cutting lap times from Keke Rosberg's 1985 pole time of 1:32.462 in his Williams-Honda turbo, to Nigel Mansell's 1990 pole time of 1:04.402 in his V12 Ferrari.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: From 1990 the French Grand Prix was moved to Magny-Cours where it ran until 2008. Paul Ricard hosted the French Grand Prix on 14 occasions between 1971 and 1990. The Long Circuit was used from 1971 to 1985, with the Club Circuit used from 1986 to 1990. On six occasions (1971, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1980 and 1989) the winner at Paul Ricard went on to win the World Championship in the same year. Ronnie Peterson (1973 and 1974) and René Arnoux (1982) are the only Ricard winners who never won the championship.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: In the 1990s the circuit's use was limited to motorcycle racing and French national racing, most notably until 1999, the Bol d'or 24-hour motorcycle endurance race. The track was also the home of the Oreca F3000 team. After Ricard's death, the track was sold to Excelis, a company owned by Formula One promoter Bernie Ecclestone, in 1999. The track was rebuilt into an advanced test track, and was for a time known as the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track (Paul Ricard HTTT) before changing its name back to Circuit Paul Ricard.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: An aircraft landing strip suitable for private jets is amongst the circuit's facilities. There is a Karting Test Track (KTT) that features the same type of abrasive safety zones as the car track. The track has also hosted some races, including the 2006 Paul Ricard 500km, a round of the FIA GT Championship. Other GT championships have run races here, most notably the Ferrari Challenge and races organized by Porsche clubs of France and Italy.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: On 5 December 2016, it was announced that the French Grand Prix would return to the Formula 1 calendar for the 2018 season at Paul Ricard. It was the first French Grand Prix since 2008 (last held at Magny-Cours) and the first at Circuit Paul Ricard since 1990. On 19 June 2017, the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in Geneva published its 2018 provisional calendar with the French Grand Prix scheduled for 24 June at Circuit Paul Ricard with the race itself followed immediately by the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring and then the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit. Pirelli Motorsport has planned for a two-day tyre testing for its 2018 Formula 1 tyres at Circuit Paul Ricard in the months of May, June and September 2017. The track remained on the F1 calendar until the 2022 season. It is, however, not part of the F1 schedule for 2023.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: Paul Ricard has the 3-star FIA Environmental Accreditation. In a 2021 report, it was ranked the second most sustainable racetrack in the world, together with Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and behind Mugello Circuit.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: The track is characterised by its long Mistral straight and elongated track design. The track is also unusual in that it is built on a plateau: it is very flat. In 1986 the track was modified to shorten the circuit, by adding shortcut through to the middle of the Mistral Straight. This shorter circuit was also known as the GP short circuit and was long. After the modifications in 2000–2005, the track offers 167 possible configurations from to the full . The track's elevation ranges from above sea level. Its flexibility and mild winter weather mean that it is used for testing by several motorsport teams, including Formula One teams.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: The track is known for its distinctive black and blue run-off areas known as the "Blue Zone". The runoff surface consists of a mixture of asphalt and tungsten, used instead of gravel traps, as common at other circuits. A second, deeper run-off area is the "Red Zone", with a more abrasive surface designed to maximize tyre grip and hence minimize braking distance, although at the cost of extreme tyre wear. The final safeguard consists of Tecpro barriers, a modern improvement on tyre barriers.


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: In 2019 the pitlane entry was moved following safety concerns. The entry, which was previously accessed via the main straight, is now situated between the final two corners (turns 14 and 15).


title: Circuit Paul Ricard

text: The official lap record for the current F1 circuit layout (1C-V2) is 1:32.740, set by Sebastian Vettel during the 2019 French Grand Prix. While the unofficial all-time track record is 1:28.319, set by Lewis Hamilton during final qualifying for the aforementioned 2019 race. The official race lap records at the Circuit Paul Ricard are listed as:


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., well water, distilled water, mineral water, or spring water) packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not. Sizes range from small single serving bottles to large carboys for water coolers.


title: Bottled water

text: Although vessels to bottle and transport water were part of the earliest human civilizations, bottling water began in the United Kingdom with the first water bottling at the Holy Well in 1622. The demand for bottled water was fueled in large part by the resurgence in spa-going and water therapy among Europeans and American colonists in the 17th and 18th centuries. 'Bristol Water' taken from the spa at Hotwells was one of the first drinking waters to be bottled and marketed widely. Daniel Defoe noted in 1724 that there were over 15 glass-houses in Bristol, "which are more than in London...and vast numbers of bottles are used for sending the water of the Hotwell not only over England but all over the world."


title: Bottled water

text: The first commercially distributed water in America was bottled and sold by Jackson's Spa in Boston in 1767. Early drinkers of bottled spa waters believed that the water at these mineral springs had therapeutic properties and that bathing in or drinking the water could help treat many common ailments.


title: Bottled water

text: The popularity of bottled mineral waters quickly led to a market for imitation products. Carbonated waters developed to reproduce the natural effervescence of spring-bottled water, and in 1809 Joseph Hawkins was issued the first U.S. patent for "imitation" mineral water. Technological innovation in the 19th century led to cheaper glass and quicker bottling. So bottled water could be produced on a larger scale and grew in popularity. Many saw bottled water as safer than municipal water supplies, which could spread diseases such as cholera and typhoid. By around 1850, one of America's most popular bottlers, Saratoga Springs, was producing more than 7 million bottles of water annually.


title: Bottled water

text: In the United States, the popularity of bottled water declined in the early 20th century, when the advent of water chlorination reduced public concerns about water-borne diseases in municipal water supplies. But it remained popular in Europe, where it spread to cafés and grocery stores in the second half of the century. Perrier water had been bottled since the 19th century and widely sold throughout the British Empire; in 1977 Perrier launched in the United States. Today, bottled water is the second most popular commercial beverage in the United States, with about half the domestic consumption of soft drinks.


title: Bottled water

text: Many of the early developments in the field of chemistry can be attributed to the study of natural mineral waters and attempts to replicate them for commercial sale. Joseph Priestley, who discovered oxygen in 1775, made his first contributions to the field of chemistry by dissolving carbon dioxide in water, for which he was awarded the Copley Medal in 1773. He later worked with Johann Jacob Schweppe, founder of Schweppes, in developing "aerated" waters for commercial sale.


title: Bottled water

text: In 1973, DuPont engineer Nathaniel Wyeth patented Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, the first plastic bottle to withstand the pressure of carbonated liquids. Today, PET plastic has replaced glass as the preferred material for single-serving bottled water containers due to its light weight and resistance to breaking.


title: Bottled water

text: The Beverage Marketing Corporation defines the bottled water market segment as "retail PET, retail bulk, home and office delivery, vending, domestic sparkling and imports", but excluding "flavored and enhanced water."


title: Bottled water

text: A number of cities and companies worldwide have vending machines that dispense purified water into customers' own containers. All dispensers filter the location's tap water. In North America, these machines are typically located outside of supermarkets.


title: Bottled water

text: It is not uncommon for business or individuals to subscribe to a bottled water service. These services deliver water either monthly or weekly, sometimes even daily. Traditionally, water in glass bottles (jugs) was provided to electric coolers in areas of businesses without plumbing. Plastic containers have replaced those glass jugs, however, dispensers at businesses now may stand alongside existing water taps or fountains.


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled water is often stored as part of an emergency kit in case of natural disaster. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says the "safest" and "most reliable" source of drinking water is store-bought bottled water. Commonly, disaster management experts recommend storing of water per person, per day for at least three days. This amount is intended to include water for drinking and cooking as well as water for hand washing, washing dishes, and personal hygiene. Factory containers of water have an indefinite shelf life, as long as they remain unopened and undamaged. The sell-by date is voluntarily and individually set by manufacturers to indicate the length of time that they believe the water will taste and smell fresh, rather than to indicate any issue of contamination or food safety.


title: Bottled water

text: The most common packaging material for single-serve, non-carbonated bottled water in the United States and Europe is polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic. Marked in many countries with resin identification code number "1", PET is 100% recyclable, though recycling rates vary by region. In 2014, approximately 1.8 billion pounds of post-consumer PET bottles were collected in the United States and 1.75 million metric tons (approximately 3.9 billion pounds) were collected in the European Union, making it the most recycled plastic in both the United States and Europe. In the United States, the recycling rate for PET packaging was 32% in 2014; in the European Union, the recycling rate for PET packaging for the same period was approximately 52%.


title: Bottled water

text: The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), the trade association for the PET plastic packaging industry in the United States and Canada, identifies five major, generic end-use categories for recycled PET plastic:


title: Bottled water

text: In Europe, more than one-third of recovered PET plastic is used to produce polyester fibers, and another quarter is used in the production of preformed plastic containers—such as egg cartons, fruit boxes, and other plastic beverage bottles.


title: Bottled water

text: On average, it takes 1.32 litres (L) of water to produce 1 L of bottled water. This includes 1 L of ingredient water and 0.32 L of water used in facility processes such as treatment, bottling, and maintenance. Small pack facilities (facilities that package water in containers between 8 oz. and 2.5 gallons) use the least amount of water (1.26 L per 1 L), followed by mixed packaging facilities (1.46 L per 1 L). Facilities that package water for home and office delivery in sizes of 2.5 gallons to 5 gallons use the most water (1.56 L per 1 L).


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled water has lower water usage than bottled soft drinks, which average 2.02 L per 1 L, as well as beer (4 L per 1 L) and wine (4.74 L per 1 L). The larger per-litre water consumption of these drinks can be attributed to additional ingredients and production processes, such as flavor mixing and carbonization for soft drinks and fermentation for beer and wine. In the United States, bottled water production represents 0.011% of annual water consumption.


title: Bottled water

text: Critics of bottled water argue that the industry should take in to account not just water used in its production and packaging process, but the total water footprint of its supply chain, which includes water used in the production of its packaging.


title: Bottled water

text: A 2011 IBWA lifecycle inventory study found that the production, packaging, and transportation of bottled water within the United States consumes of energy annually, which represents about 0.07% of yearly energy consumption in the country. According to the same study, 6.8 million tons of equivalent are emitted by the bottled water industry a year in the United States, about 0.08% of annual emissions. An Aetna Group study in 2015 concluded that each litre of bottled water requires 240 kilojoules of energy to produce. The lifecycle carbon footprint for a half litre of small pack bottled water is 111 grams equivalent. By comparison, the same sized PET plastic-bottled soft drink produces 240 grams equivalent. Soft drink bottles require much thicker plastic due to carbonation, and therefore many more grams of eqivalent.


title: Bottled water

text: The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the national standards body of India working under the aegis of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India. It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986 which came into effect on 23 December 1986. The minister in charge of the ministry or department having administrative control of the BIS is the ex-officio president of the BIS.


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled water is comprehensively regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a packaged food product. By law, the FDA regulations for bottled water must be at least as stringent as the Environmental Protection Agency standards for tap water.


title: Bottled water

text: The FDA has established "Standards of Identity" for bottled water products sold in the U.S. For a product to be considered "bottled water", it cannot contain sweeteners or chemical additives (other than flavors, extracts or essences) and must be calorie-free and sugar-free. If flavors, extracts and essences—derived from spice or fruit—are added to the water, these additions must comprise less than 1% by weight of the final product. The FDA Code of Federal Regulations establishes limitations for the amount of fluoride that can be added to water. Mineral water contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids (TDS). "Purified water" is defined in the United States Pharmacopoeia.


title: Bottled water

text: Food Standards Australia New Zealand's Food Standards Code limits fluoride in bottled water to between 0.6 and 1.0 milligrams per litre, and requires any addition to be specified on the product label.


title: Bottled water

text: The Council of Canadians, a social action organization, stressed the need for bottled water industry reform after launching a boycott of Nestlé in September 2016 after the company outbid a small town aiming to secure a long-term water supply through a local well as the country battles drought and depletion of ground water reserves. Premier Kathleen Wynne stated that her government will look for ways to put community needs ahead of bottled water corporations, saying "as we look at the water bottling industry, that has to be a question because we're talking about what we could argue is our most precious resource" that they have this "discussion about our water, the status of and the treatment of water bottling companies, that needs to be taken into consideration".


title: Bottled water

text: Global bottled water consumption crossed the 3 billion hectoliter threshold in 2014. In 2017, the global rate of consumption rose by an estimated 7.6 percent. Per capita consumption was 50.1 liters, up by 3 liters from 2016's 47.1 liters.


title: Bottled water

text: The Australasian Bottled Water Institute is a regional member of the International Council of Bottled Water Associations. The bottled water industry in Australia is worth approximately $400 million per year,


title: Bottled water

text: An upmarket restaurant in Sydney has stopped selling bottled water and started using a machine costing A$5000 to filter, chill and carbonate tap water to get the same quality water.


title: Bottled water

text: Despite ongoing water restrictions, an application to extract groundwater for bottled water was approved in 2020.


title: Bottled water

text: Directive 2009–54/EC deals with the marketing and exploitation of natural mineral waters in the European Union. The two main types of bottled water recognized are mineral water and spring water.


title: Bottled water

text: Broadly speaking, "mineral water" is groundwater that has emerged from the ground and flowed over rock. Treatment of mineral water is restricted to removal of unstable elements such as iron and sulfur compounds. Treatment for such minerals may extend only to filtration or decanting with oxygenation. Free carbon dioxide may be removed only by physical methods, and the regulations for introduction (or reintroduction) of CO are strictly defined. Disinfection of natural mineral water is completely prohibited, including the addition of any element that is likely to change bacterial colony counts. If natural mineral water is effervescent, it must be labelled accordingly, depending on the origin of the carbon dioxide: naturally carbonated natural mineral water (no introduction of CO); natural mineral water fortified with gas from the spring (reintroduction of CO); carbonated natural mineral water (CO added following strict guidelines).


title: Bottled water

text: Directive 2001–83/EC deals with bottled water that is considered a "medicinal product" and is thus excluded from the scope of the other regulation.


title: Bottled water

text: The bottled water industry in India witnessed a boom in the late 1990s soon after Bisleri launched its packaged drinking water in the country. This significant growth was fuelled by a surge in advertising by the industry players that "bottled water was pure and healthy".


title: Bottled water

text: The total market was valued at in 2013, of which the top five players (Bisleri, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Parle) accounted for 67% of the market share. This market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22%, to reach in 2018.


title: Bottled water

text: In 2016, the state of Sikkim announced restrictions on the usage of plastic water bottles (in government functions and meetings) and styrofoam products as it is associated with adverse health and environment impacts.


title: Bottled water

text: Lebanon has one of the fastest growth rate of per capita consumption of bottled water. Lebanon has seven major brands of bottled mineral water for local consumption and for exportation to the water-starved countries on the Arabian Peninsula and in the Persian Gulf.


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled water in New Zealand is regulated by Food Standards Australia New Zealand and must comply with the Food Act 1981. From July 2009 fluoride was allowed to be present in bottled water as an additive or as a natural occurring mineral.


title: Bottled water

text: Due to contaminated water being widespread, in the mid-1980s urban families started installing filtration units at home. This later developed into companies providing mineral water delivery services at home. Use of these bottles that could be attached to a dispenser is still widespread.


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled water was made famous by one of the largest marketing campaigns in Pakistan history undertaken by Nestle. Other bottlers include dozens of local ones, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mineral Drops by water icon, Nature, Vey, Nova Pure Water Larkana, Mina Water, Great Water Islamabad, and Dew Drop. Other imported brands such as Evian also began marketing in the country.


title: Bottled water

text: The U.S. is the second largest consumer market for bottled water in the world, followed by Mexico, Indonesia, and Brazil. China surpassed the United States to take the lead in 2013. In 2016, bottled water outsold carbonated soft drinks (by volume) to become the number one packaged beverage in the U.S. In 2018, bottled water consumption increased to 14 billion gallons, up 5.8 percent from 2017, with the average American drinking 41.9 gallons of bottled water annually.


title: Bottled water

text: In the United States, bottled water and tap water are regulated by different federal agencies: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates bottled water and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the quality of tap water. The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is headquartered in Alexandria, VA.


title: Bottled water

text: From 1970 (16 brands) over 1998 (50 brands) to 2012 (195 brands), the number of mineral water brands in the U.S. has grown exponentially.


title: Bottled water

text: In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates all packaged foods and beverage products, including bottled water, and mandates labeling requirements. FDA labeling requirements include a statement of the type of water in the container, compliance with the applicable definitions in the FDA Standards of Identity, ingredient labeling, name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer or distributor, net weight, and, if required, nutrition labeling.


title: Bottled water

text: Public water systems are required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to provide households in their service territories with a Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) that provides information on the quality of their water during the previous year. Such disclosures are not required by the FDA of any packaged food or beverage product, including bottled water. All packaged foods and beverages, must be manufactured according to FDA regulations and must meet all applicable quality and safety standards.


title: Bottled water

text: In Canada, bottled water must meet the standards in the Food and Drugs Act & Regulations (FDAR) as it is considered a food. The FDAR works in partnership with Health Canada and Canadian in developing the policies regarding bottled water. The CFIA focuses more on regulations pertaining to packaging, labeling, advertising, and other safety practices, whereas the FDAR focuses more on the water itself. For example, the bottled water must meet the Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Regulations in Division 12, Part B of the Act must be met before it is approved for sale. Some of the regulations include: labeling terms, safety standards (i.e.: what is acceptable), and microbiological standards (i.e.: chlorine). In addition to this, the type of filtration method the water has gone through must be shown on the label, as stated in Section B.12.009 Additional information regarding regulations can be found on the CFIA website. The regulations specific to bottled water is in Division 12 and 15, which specify what can be added, such as the amount of arsenic and lead. Regulations are always being updated to conform with new scientific data, laws, new products, and new improvements. In terms of the types of water sold, spring and mineral water must meet the following criteria:


title: Bottled water

text: In Canada, there are two categories of bottled water: 1) spring/mineral water, or 2) water other than mineral water or spring water.


title: Bottled water

text: Emergency preparedness refers to the steps taken prior to a natural disaster or emergency to ensure safety throughout the event. The American Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommend that individuals and families maintain disaster supply kits in the event that an emergency disrupts food supply or public water systems, blocks roads, or leaves people unable to find essentials. Following disasters such as floods, blizzards, or earthquakes, water sources can be cut off or contaminated, limiting access to safe, clean drinking water. For this reason, FEMA recommends that all disaster supply kits include one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days for drinking and sanitation. In hot climates, FEMA recommends doubling this quantity.


title: Bottled water

text: For the water supply, FEMA recommends commercially bottled water kept in a cool, dark place. As an alternative, FEMA recommends using disinfected food-grade water containers to store tap water and replacing the water every six months.


title: Bottled water

text: In August 2014, city officials in Toledo, Ohio, banned local tap water after toxins from an algae bloom in Lake Erie were found in the city's water supply. The American Red Cross and AmeriCares responded by helping coordinate the distribution of bottled water to the 500,000 area residents impacted by the ban.


title: Bottled water

text: Most bottled water containers are made from recyclable PET plastic, and some of these bottles end up in the waste stream in landfills. The financial and environmental costs of transportation of bottled water has been another concern because of the energy used and the consequent release of carbon dioxide and the potential impact on climate change.


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled water is bought for many different reasons including taste, convenience, poor tap water quality and safety concerns, health concerns and as a substitute for sugary drinks. The environmental impact, container safety, water origin, emergency supplies and role of the bottled water industry continue to be areas of concern for many people. In some cases it can be shown that bottled water is actually tap water. However, it is also argued that the quality specifications for some bottled waters in some jurisdictions are more stringent than the standards for tap-water. In the US, bottled water that comes from municipal suppliers must be clearly labeled as such unless it has been sufficiently processed to be labeled as "distilled" or "purified".


title: Bottled water

text: One American study showed that "even in areas with safe tap water, African American and Latino parents were three times more likely to give their children mostly bottled water compared to non-Latino white children, because of their belief that bottled water is safer, cleaner, better tasting, or more convenient." The economic implications of this also showed serious inequities: as a percentage of household income, whites reported median spending of 0.4% of their income on bottled water; African Americans and Latinos reported median spending to be more than twice as high." The study volunteers, "For poor families, the use of bottled water may lead to less availability of resources for other health needs ... by the rather striking levels of expenditure on water relative to household income." On a global scale, markets for bottled water in poorer developing countries are growing rapidly due to increased fears of "contaminated tap water, inadequate municipal water systems, and increased marketing on the part of bottled water companies." Sales of bottled water in Mexico, China, and parts of India are rising steeply.


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled water is perceived by many as being a safer alternative to other sources of water such as tap water. Bottled water usage has increased even in countries where clean tap water is present. This may be attributed to consumers disliking the taste of tap water or its organoleptics. Another contributing factor to this shift could be the marketing success of bottled water. The success of bottled water marketing can be seen by Perrier's transformation of a bottle of water into a status symbol. However, while bottled water has grown in both consumption and sales, the industry's advertising expenses are considerably less than other beverages. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC), in 2013, the bottled water industry spent $60.6 million on advertising. That same year, sports drinks spent $128 million, sodas spent $564 million, and beer spent $1 billion.


title: Bottled water

text: Consumers tend to choose bottled water due to health related reasons. In communities that experience problems with their tap water, bottled water consumption is significantly higher. The International Bottled Water Association guidelines state that bottled water companies cannot compare their product to tap water in marketing operations. Consumers are also affected by memories associated with particular brands. For example, Coca-Cola took their Dasani product off the UK market after finding levels of bromate that were higher than legal standards because consumers in the UK associated this flaw with the Dasani product.


title: Bottled water

text: "Bottled water sales are higher amongst African-American, Asians and Hispanic groups, which typically have lower incomes than whites." Some hypothesize that these differences are due to the geographic distribution of ethnic groups. It was theorized that ethnic differences in bottled water usage "mirror the variability of water system quality between urban, suburban and rural areas (Abrahams et al. 2000) and it was also pointed out that they might reflect the memory of past problems caused by deficient tap-water systems in deprived areas (Olson 1999)." In France, a similar geographic study in the early 1970s found that bottled water consumption was found to be much higher in urban areas (Ferrier 2001). This finding was "also explained in terms of the poor quality of urban tap water and of the bad condition of the old lead pipes in French cities. Nonetheless, while poor tap water quality may motivate the public to search for alternative sources, it alone does not necessarily lead to higher consumption of bottled water."


title: Bottled water

text: Some surveys "found that bottled water, far from being an alternative to tap water, seems to be mostly consumed as a substitute for alcoholic and traditional soft drinks (e.g. AWWA-RF 1993; FWR 1996) – the exception being when water contamination presents serious health risks and the trust in the tap water company is highly eroded (e.g. Lonnon 2004)." Another explanation for the rise in popularity of bottled water is that "the consumption of 'pure' and 'natural' bottled water in degraded environments may represent a symbolic purging behavior." Additional research has analyzed the commodification of bottled water through the corporate and cultural branding of nature, and how this commodification has added to the discourse around access to water as a human right. There is a long and storied history of the portrayal of water as a product of and necessity for nature. Richard Wilk argues that somewhere along the way from the early Christian idealization of water as a pure substance to our modern abilities to exert power over nature, people have formed opinions on the adequacy of water based on its delivery. Public access to clean water was once a dream of the industrial world, but now, according to Wilk, it's seen as dirty. Drawing on his own research and that of other scholars, he presents a complex ideological system: bottled water (which is water that has been exposed to human intervention) is understood as pure or acceptable; water directly from a natural source (which is water that has not been exposed to human intervention – a spring, river, glacier, etc.) is assumed to be dirty and not to be trusted; and water that is provided for the public (which is water from an anonymous source that is controlled by the town or state) is also seen as dirty and untrustworthy. Despite these varying views, bottled water companies have successfully infiltrated the consumer market. Marketers have recognized and fed into the fetishization or degradation of these different water sources. These marketing schemes have an emphasis on "very old forms of value" and the manipulation of "distance, either increasing or decreasing it in geography, time, or social proximity". Wilk argues that the lack of consistency in which types and brands of water are available to all American consumers restricts individuals from exercising their personal moral and ethical ideals on sourcing their water. The struggle between trust and distrust of these water sources – whether it is natural or perceived to be natural – is central in the commodification of water.


title: Bottled water

text: Many low-income families avoid drinking tap water because they fear it may cause sickness. Bottled, filtered, and tap water are all for the most part safe in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency regulations for tap water are "actually stricter than the Food and Drug Administration regulations for bottled water." A study of drinking water in Cincinnati, Ohio, discovered that bacterial counts in bottled water were often higher than those in tap water and fluoride concentration was inconsistent.


title: Bottled water

text: Globally, there is an intensifying environmental backlash against bottled water usage. As global consumption of bottled water soars, environmental groups such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Greenpeace have warned of the huge environmental footprint of the plastic in which the water is packaged. In 2001, a WWF study, "Bottled water: understanding a social phenomenon", warned that in many countries, bottled water may be no safer or healthier than tap water and it sold for up to 1,000 times the price. It said the booming market would put severe pressure on recycling plastics and could lead to landfill sites drowning in mountains of plastic bottles. Also, the study found that the production of bottled water uses more water than the consumer actually buys in the bottle itself.


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled water is more expensive than municipally-supplied tap water. Tap water sources and delivery systems (taps and faucets) are fixed in place while bottled water is available at many differing price points and in a variety of size formats.


title: Bottled water

text: "The consumption of bottled and filtered water has dramatically increased in the United States during the past decade, with bottled water sales tripling to about $4 billion a year. More than 50% of the US population drinks bottled water and 'people spend from 240 to over 10,000 times more per gallon for bottled water than they typically do for tap water.' An annual supply of bottled water for a person who consumes 8 glasses a day would cost approximately $200; the same amount of tap water would cost approximately $0.33. In general, women are more likely to drink bottled water than men, and Hispanic women are the group most likely to drink bottled water."


title: Bottled water

text: The Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) states that in 2013, the average wholesale price per gallon of domestic non-sparkling bottled water was $1.21. BMC's research also shows that consumers tend to buy bottled water in bulk from supermarkets (25.3%) or large discount retailers (57.9%) because it costs significantly less. Convenience stores are likely to have higher prices (4.5%), as do drug stores (2.8%). The remaining 9.5% is accounted for through vending machines, cafeterias and other food service outlets, and other types of sales.


title: Bottled water

text: In response to environmental and financial concerns, a few localities and U.S. colleges are banning bottled water sales.


title: Bottled water

text: In 2009, the small New South Wales town of Bundanoon voted to become the first town in the world to ban the selling or dispensing of bottled water. Bundanoon caught the attention of many other cities around the world.


title: Bottled water

text: After a Sydney-based beverage company wanted to open a water extraction plant in the New South Wales town Bundanoon, residents outlawed the sale of bottled water. The town continues to fight the company's proposal in court.


title: Bottled water

text: "In the same week the New South Wales state premier also banned all state departments and agencies from buying bottled water because of its huge environmental footprint, joining more than 70 cities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom that have banned bottled water in their departments."


title: Bottled water

text: In 2012, the town of Concord, Massachusetts, became the first in the United States to ban the sale of bottled water. Specifically, sales of non-sparkling, unflavored drinking water in single-serving polyethelyne terephthalate (PET) bottles of 1 litre (34 ounces) or less are prohibited. The ban went into effect on 1 January 2013.


title: Bottled water

text: In the United States, bottled water and tap water are regulated by different federal agencies: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates bottled water and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the quality of tap water. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act the EPA has set maximum contaminant levels for approximately 90 contaminants that might be found in drinking water and 15 secondary maximum contaminant levels.


title: Bottled water

text: In some areas, tap water may contain added fluoride, which helps prevent tooth decay and cavities. Some bottled water manufacturers in the United States add fluoride to their product, or provide a fluoridated bottled water product. The FDA of the United States does not require bottled water manufacturers to list the fluoride content on the label. However, unlike tap water where the amount of fluoride added by municipalities to drinking water is not federally regulated, the FDA has set specific limits for how much fluoride may be found in bottled water. Water fluoridation remains controversial in countries that require it (the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and a handful of other countries). Several studies have examined the content of fluoride and other chemicals in bottled water as well as the accuracy of these values as printed on the labels showing some significant difference between labeled and measured value.


title: Bottled water

text: According to a 1999 NRDC study, in which roughly 22 percent of brands were tested, at least one sample of bottled drinking water contained chemical contaminants at levels above strict state health limits. Some of the contaminants found in the study could pose health risks if consumed over a long period of time. The NRDC report conceded that "most waters contained no detectable bacteria, however, and the level of synthetic organic chemicals and inorganic chemicals of concern for which [they] were tested were either below detection limits or well below all applicable standards." Meanwhile, a report by the Drinking Water Research Foundation found that of all samples tested by NRDC, "federal FDA or EPA limits were allegedly exceeded only four times, twice for total coliforms and twice for fluorides."


title: Bottled water

text: Studies show that the plastics used for bottles contain chemicals having estrogenic activity, even when they claim otherwise. Although some of the bottled water contained in glass were found polluted with chemicals as well, the researchers believe some of the contamination of water in the plastic containers may have come from the plastic containers. Leaching of chemicals into the water is related to the plastic bottles being exposed to either low or high temperatures.


title: Bottled water

text: A study has recently found that the vast majority of bottled water contains microplastics. Following this, the World Health Organization has launched a review into the safety of drinking microplastics. Analysis of some of the world's most popular bottled water brands found that more than 90% contained tiny pieces of plastic. The tests were carried out at the State University of New York at Fredonia as part of a project involving original research and reporting by the US-based journalism organization Orb Media. Using a dye called Nile Red, which binds to free-floating pieces of plastic, the university's Prof Sherri Mason found an average of 10 plastic particles per litre of water, each larger than the size of a human hair. Smaller particles assumed to be plastic but not positively identified were found as well – an average of 314 per litre.


title: Bottled water

text: In 2008, researchers from Arizona State University found that storing plastic bottles in temperatures at or above 60 °C can cause antimony to enter the water contained in the bottles. Therefore, frequently drinking from bottles stored in places such as cars during the summer months may have negative health effects.


title: Bottled water

text: There have been no major outbreaks of illness or serious safety concerns associated with bottled water in the past decade, an FDA official stated in testimony before a 9 July 2009 Congressional hearing. Conversely, as noted in the Drinking Water Research Foundation's (DWRF) 2013 report, "Microbial Health Risks of Regulated Drinking Waters in the United States", EPA researchers reported an estimated 16.4 million cases of acute gastrointestinal illness per year are caused by tap water. Subsequent research has estimated that number of illnesses to be closer to 19.5 million cases per year.


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled noncarbonated drinking water competes in the marketplace with carbonated beverages (including carbonated water) sold in individual plastic bottles. Consumption of water often is considered a healthier substitute for sodas.


title: Bottled water

text: According to the Container Recycling Institute, sales of flavoured, non-carbonated drinks are expected to surpass soda sales by 2010. In response, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola have introduced new carbonated drinks that are fortified with vitamins and minerals, Diet Coke Plus and Tava, marketed as "sparkling beverages".


title: Bottled water

text: Bottled water may have reduced amounts of copper, lead, and other metal contaminants since it does not run through the plumbing pipes where tap water is exposed to metal corrosion; however, this varies by the household and plumbing system.


title: Bottled water

text: In much of the developed world, chlorine often is added as a disinfectant to tap water. If the water contains organic matter, this may produce other byproducts in the water such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids, which has shown to increase the risk of cancer. The level of residual chlorine found at around 0.0002 g per litre, which is too small to cause any health problems directly. The chlorine concentration recommended by World Health Organization is between 0.0005 and 0.0002 g/L.


title: Bottled water

text: The Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and World Wildlife Fund have urged their supporters to consume less bottled water. Anti-bottled-water-campaigns and organizations, such as Corporate Accountability International, typically argue that bottled water is no better than tap water, and emphasize the detrimental environmental side-effects of disposable plastic bottles.


title: Bottled water

text: In a 2003 episode of the Showtime series "", restaurant diners appeared unable to discern between bottled water and water from a garden hose behind the restaurant.


title: Bottled water

text: The documentary "Tapped" argues against the bottled water industry, asserting that tap water is healthier, more environmentally sustainable, and more ecologically sound than bottled water. The film focuses on the bottled water industry in the United States. The film has received largely positive reviews, and has spawned college campus groups such as Beyond the Bottle. Yet, as many people remain generally unaware of the negative health and environmental impacts associated with bottled water, recent research in environmental psychology has started to investigate how to reduce the public's consumption of bottled water.


title: Bottled water

text: In the article "Bottled Water the Pure Commodity in the Age of Branding", Wilk argues that the debate between bottled water and tap water is unique in that it is completely separate from ethical consumption. Unlike with other products, consumers of water do no have the ability to "vote with their dollar" against bottled water because the alternative is to use tap water. This excludes this debate from representation in the corporate decision-making. Wilk also argues that this debate about safety and morality surrounding bottled versus tap water, is a question of distrust in political and economic systems. Wilk concludes that there is an apparent distrust in both the corporate and governmental ability to supply safe water, leading most people to have to choose a lesser of two evils.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cumulus clouds are clouds which have flat bases and are often described as "puffy", "cotton-like" or "fluffy" in appearance. Their name derives from the Latin "cumulo-", meaning "heap" or "pile". Cumulus clouds are low-level clouds, generally less than in altitude unless they are the more vertical cumulus congestus form. Cumulus clouds may appear by themselves, in lines, or in clusters.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cumulus clouds are often precursors of other types of clouds, such as cumulonimbus, when influenced by weather factors such as instability, moisture, and temperature gradient. Normally, cumulus clouds produce little or no precipitation, but they can grow into the precipitation-bearing congests or cumulonimbus clouds. Cumulus clouds can be formed from water vapour, supercooled water droplets, or ice crystals, depending upon the ambient temperature. They come in many distinct subforms and generally cool the earth by reflecting the incoming solar radiation. Cumulus clouds are part of the larger category of free-convective cumuliform clouds, which include cumulonimbus clouds. The latter genus-type is sometimes categorized separately as cumulonimbiform due to its more complex structure that often includes a cirriform or anvil top. There are also cumuliform clouds of limited convection that comprise stratocumulus (low-étage), altocumulus (middle-étage) and cirrocumulus (high-étage). These last three genus-types are sometimes classified separately as stratocumuliform.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cumulus clouds form via atmospheric convection as air warmed by the surface begins to rise. As the air rises, the temperature drops (following the lapse rate), causing the relative humidity (RH) to rise. If convection reaches a certain level the RH reaches one hundred percent, and the "wet-adiabatic" phase begins. At this point a positive feedback ensues: since the RH is above 100%, water vapor condenses, releasing latent heat, warming the air and spurring further convection.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: In this phase, water vapor condenses on various nuclei present in the air, forming the cumulus cloud. This creates the characteristic flat-bottomed puffy shape associated with cumulus clouds. The height of the cloud (from its bottom to its top) depends on the temperature profile of the atmosphere and of the presence of any inversions. During the convection, surrounding air is entrained (mixed) with the thermal and the total mass of the ascending air increases.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Rain forms in a cumulus cloud via a process involving two non-discrete stages. The first stage occurs after the droplets coalesce onto the various nuclei. Langmuir writes that surface tension in the water droplets provides a slightly higher pressure on the droplet, raising the vapor pressure by a small amount. The increased pressure results in those droplets evaporating and the resulting water vapor condensing on the larger droplets. Due to the extremely small size of the evaporating water droplets, this process becomes largely meaningless after the larger droplets have grown to around 20 to 30 micrometres, and the second stage takes over. In the accretion phase, the raindrop begins to fall, and other droplets collide and combine with it to increase the size of the raindrop. Langmuir was able to develop a formula which predicted that the droplet radius would grow unboundedly within a discrete time period.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: The liquid water density within a cumulus cloud has been found to change with height above the cloud base rather than being approximately constant throughout the cloud. In one particular study, the concentration was found to be zero at cloud base. As altitude increased, the concentration rapidly increased to the maximum concentration near the middle of the cloud. The maximum concentration was found to be anything up to 1.25 grams of water per kilogram of air. The concentration slowly dropped off as altitude increased to the height of the top of the cloud, where it immediately dropped to zero again.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cumulus clouds can form in lines stretching over long called cloud streets. These cloud streets cover vast areas and may be broken or continuous. They form when wind shear causes horizontal circulation in the atmosphere, producing the long, tubular cloud streets. They generally form during high-pressure systems, such as after a cold front.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: The height at which the cloud forms depends on the amount of moisture in the thermal that forms the cloud. Humid air will generally result in a lower cloud base. In temperate areas, the base of the cumulus clouds is usually below above ground level, but it can range up to in altitude. In arid and mountainous areas, the cloud base can be in excess of .


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cumulus clouds can be composed of ice crystals, water droplets, supercooled water droplets, or a mixture of them. The water droplets form when water vapor condenses on the nuclei, and they may then coalesce into larger and larger droplets.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: One study found that in temperate regions, the cloud bases studied ranged from above ground level. These clouds were normally above , and the concentration of droplets ranged from . This data was taken from growing isolated cumulus clouds that were not precipitating. The droplets were very small, ranging down to around 5 micrometres in diameter. Although smaller droplets may have been present, the measurements were not sensitive enough to detect them. The smallest droplets were found in the lower portions of the clouds, with the percentage of large droplets (around 20 to 30 micrometres) rising dramatically in the upper regions of the cloud. The droplet size distribution was slightly bimodal in nature, with peaks at the small and large droplet sizes and a slight trough in the intermediate size range. The skew was roughly neutral. Furthermore, large droplet size is roughly inversely proportional to the droplet concentration per unit volume of air.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: In places, cumulus clouds can have "holes" where there are no water droplets. These can occur when winds tear the cloud and incorporate the environmental air or when strong downdrafts evaporate the water.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cumulus clouds come in four distinct species, "cumulus humilis", "mediocris", "congestus", and "fractus". These species may be arranged into the variety, "cumulus radiatus"; and may be accompanied by up to seven supplementary features, "cumulus pileus", "velum", "virga", "praecipitatio", "arcus", "pannus", and "tuba".


title: Cumulus cloud

text: The species "Cumulus fractus" is ragged in appearance and can form in clear air as a precursor to cumulus humilis and larger cumulus species-types; or it can form in precipitation as the supplementary feature "pannus" (also called scud) which can also include stratus fractus of bad weather. "Cumulus humilis" clouds look like puffy, flattened shapes. "Cumulus mediocris" clouds look similar, except that they have some vertical development. "Cumulus congestus" clouds have a cauliflower-like structure and tower high into the atmosphere, hence their alternate name "towering cumulus". The variety "Cumulus radiatus" forms in radial bands called cloud streets and can comprise any of the four species of cumulus.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cumulus supplementary features are most commonly seen with the species congestus. "Cumulus virga" clouds are cumulus clouds producing virga (precipitation that evaporates while aloft), and "cumulus praecipitatio" produce precipitation that reaches the Earth's surface. "Cumulus pannus" comprise shredded clouds that normally appear beneath the parent cumulus cloud during precipitation. "Cumulus arcus" clouds have a gust front, and "cumulus tuba" clouds have funnel clouds or tornadoes. "Cumulus pileus" clouds refer to cumulus clouds that have grown so rapidly as to force the formation of pileus over the top of the cloud. "Cumulus velum" clouds have an ice crystal veil over the growing top of the cloud.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cumulus humilis clouds usually indicate fair weather. Cumulus mediocris clouds are similar, except that they have some vertical development, which implies that they can grow into cumulus congestus or even cumulonimbus clouds, which can produce heavy rain, lightning, severe winds, hail, and even tornadoes. Cumulus congestus clouds, which appear as towers, will often grow into cumulonimbus storm clouds. They can produce precipitation. Glider pilots often pay close attention to cumulus clouds, as they can be indicators of rising air drafts or thermals underneath that can suck the plane high into the sky—a phenomenon known as cloud suck.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Due to reflectivity, clouds cool the earth by around , an effect largely caused by stratocumulus clouds. However, at the same time, they heat the earth by around by reflecting emitted radiation, an effect largely caused by cirrus clouds. This averages out to a net loss of . Cumulus clouds, on the other hand, have a variable effect on heating the earth's surface. The more vertical "cumulus congestus" species and cumulonimbus genus of clouds grow high into the atmosphere, carrying moisture with them, which can lead to the formation of cirrus clouds. The researchers speculated that this might even produce a positive feedback, where the increasing upper atmospheric moisture further warms the earth, resulting in an increasing number of "cumulus congestus" clouds carrying more moisture into the upper atmosphere.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cumulus clouds are a genus of free-convective low-level cloud along with the related limited-convective cloud stratocumulus. These clouds form from ground level to at all latitudes. Stratus clouds are also low-level. In the middle level are the alto- clouds, which consist of the limited-convective stratocumuliform cloud altocumulus and the stratiform cloud altostratus. Mid-level clouds form from to in polar areas, in temperate areas, and in tropical areas. The high-level cloud, cirrocumulus, is a stratocumuliform cloud of limited convection. The other clouds in this level are cirrus and cirrostratus. High clouds form in high latitudes, in temperate latitudes, and in low, tropical latitudes. Cumulonimbus clouds, like cumulus congestus, extend vertically rather than remaining confined to one level.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cirrocumulus clouds form in patches and cannot cast shadows. They commonly appear in regular, rippling patterns or in rows of clouds with clear areas between. Cirrocumulus are, like other members of the cumuliform and stratocumuliform categories, formed via convective processes. Significant growth of these patches indicates high-altitude instability and can signal the approach of poorer weather. The ice crystals in the bottoms of cirrocumulus clouds tend to be in the form of hexagonal cylinders. They are not solid, but instead tend to have stepped funnels coming in from the ends. Towards the top of the cloud, these crystals have a tendency to clump together. These clouds do not last long, and they tend to change into cirrus because as the water vapor continues to deposit on the ice crystals, they eventually begin to fall, destroying the upward convection. The cloud then dissipates into cirrus. Cirrocumulus clouds come in four species which are common to all three genus-types that have limited-convective or stratocumuliform characteristics: "stratiformis", "lenticularis", "castellanus", and "floccus". They are iridescent when the constituent supercooled water droplets are all about the same size.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Altocumulus clouds are a mid-level cloud that forms from high to in polar areas, in temperate areas, and in tropical areas. They can have precipitation and are commonly composed of a mixture of ice crystals, supercooled water droplets, and water droplets in temperate latitudes. However, the liquid water concentration was almost always significantly greater than the concentration of ice crystals, and the maximum concentration of liquid water tended to be at the top of the cloud while the ice concentrated itself at the bottom. The ice crystals in the base of the altocumulus clouds and in the virga were found to be dendrites or conglomerations of dendrites while needles and plates resided more towards the top. Altocumulus clouds can form via convection or via the forced uplift caused by a warm front.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: A stratocumulus cloud is another type of stratocumuliform cloud. Like cumulus clouds, they form at low levels and via convection. However, unlike cumulus clouds, their growth is almost completely retarded by a strong inversion. As a result, they flatten out like stratus clouds, giving them a layered appearance. These clouds are extremely common, covering on average around twenty-three percent of the earth's oceans and twelve percent of the earth's continents. They are less common in tropical areas and commonly form after cold fronts. Additionally, stratocumulus clouds reflect a large amount of the incoming sunlight, producing a net cooling effect. Stratocumulus clouds can produce drizzle, which stabilizes the cloud by warming it and reducing turbulent mixing.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Cumulonimbus clouds are the final form of growing cumulus clouds. They form when "cumulus congestus" clouds develop a strong updraft that propels their tops higher and higher into the atmosphere until they reach the tropopause at in altitude. Cumulonimbus clouds, commonly called thunderheads, can produce high winds, torrential rain, lightning, gust fronts, waterspouts, funnel clouds, and tornadoes. They commonly have anvil clouds.


title: Cumulus cloud

text: Some cumuliform and stratocumuliform clouds have been discovered on most other planets in the solar system. On Mars, the Viking Orbiter detected cirrocumulus and stratocumulus clouds forming via convection primarily near the polar icecaps. The Galileo space probe detected massive cumulonimbus clouds near the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. Cumuliform clouds have also been detected on Saturn. In 2008, the Cassini spacecraft determined that cumulus clouds near Saturn's south pole were part of a cyclone over in diameter. The Keck Observatory detected whitish cumulus clouds on Uranus. Like Uranus, Neptune has methane cumulus clouds. Venus, however, does not appear to have cumulus clouds.


title: 2S4 Tyulpan

text: The 2S4 "Tyulpan" (often spelled "Tulpan", ; ) is a Soviet 240 mm self-propelled heavy mortar. "2S4" is its GRAU designation. The Tyulpan is the largest mortar system in use today.


title: 2S4 Tyulpan

text: Following World War II, the Soviet Union developed two types of heavy infantry mortar in 160 and 240 mm calibres, both conventional albeit breech-loaded designs. Due to their relatively large dimensions, total mass and the heavy weight of their projectiles (and the M-240 in particular), these mortars could hardly hope to function in the field as infantry weapons, losing the features making such weapons desirable, that is their relatively simple operation, speed of deployment and mobility. To alleviate the obvious mobility concerns, the military leadership proposed to mount the heavy mortar on a self-propelled, tracked chassis with the guns installed externally on the chassis, rather than in an enclosed superstructure or turret. For firing, the gun was to be pivoted at the vehicle's rear and anchored in the ground with the use of a massive recoil-absorbing base plate. Such a solution would help to simplify the overall design and construction of the vehicle and allow for a smaller, lighter prime mover. Initially, designers planned to utilize a common chassis used in the 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, but quickly found it was not robust enough to handle the significant recoil (approx. 400 tonne-force).


title: 2S4 Tyulpan

text: A formal agreement to initiate work on the new project was signed on July 4, 1967, but preliminary design had been ongoing at the OKB-3 experimental design bureau since 1966 under G. Yefremov. The new vehicle was developed by a team of engineers from the SKB (design bureau) of the Perm Machine Building Plant named after V. I. Lenin, using the M-240 towed mortar as the basis. This weapon has a long history, dating back to 1944 when it was first built, but formally adopted into service only in 1950 after addressing numerous deficiencies in the design. The M-240 was produced since 1958 and built in relatively minor numbers; only approx. 300 guns were built. The weapon weighed 4,150 kg and was loaded from the breech-end after pivoting the tube into a horizontal position, where the breech was locked with a simple breechblock. The mortar was operated by an 11-man crew and could be prepared to fire within 25 minutes, and continue to fire at a rate of approx. 1 round per minute. In the self-propelled variant, the weapon's tube and breechblock remained unchanged, but the base plate was substantially modified and the mortar used a different system of gun-laying gears and drives, which allowed the tube to traverse 41° in azimuth when elevated to the maximum extent, and only 10° traverse at the lower limit of elevation. The range of elevation achieved was 50° to 80°. The mortar tube has a length of 5 m, weighs 1,100 kg with the breechblock, and the total artillery component of the 2S4 has a weight of 3,300 kg. During the design phase, the weapon system carried the designation LP-40.


title: 2S4 Tyulpan

text: An initial batch of three vehicles was completed in mid-1969 and immediately directed into a factory trials program which concluded in October. The 'Tyulpan' was accepted into service with the USSR two years later, and serial production commenced in 1974.


title: 2S4 Tyulpan

text: The 2S4 Tyulpan was seen by the west for the first time in 1975, and so received the NATO designation M-1975, whereas its official designation is 2S4.


title: 2S4 Tyulpan

text: The 2S4 saw action during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Chechnya. The extreme firepower per round compensates for the Tyulpan's slow rate of fire. There were also reports that the Tyulpan may have been used by the Syrian Army during the 2012 bombardment of Homs. Although, other reports suggest that the towed 240 mm mortar M240 were used instead. And OSCE observers, monitoring movements of equipment in the war in Donbas with an UAV, spotted a 2S4 on territory under control of the Donetsk People's Republic on 4 July 2015. In May 2022, 2S4 Tyulpan were reported being used in the Donbas campaign with one unit destroyed by Ukrainian counter-battery fire.


title: 2S4 Tyulpan

text: The 2S4 Tyulpan design shares the same chassis as the 2S3 Akatsiya, and carries an externally mounted 240 mm 2B8 mortar on the rear of the hull. The 2S4 has a capacity of 20 rounds. These are placed in two automated drum-type magazines. The rounds are fed to the top of the carrier, where they are placed on a track. The mortar then tilts to the horizontal position. The breech opens and a ramming device pushes the round into the breech. The breech closes and the mortar tilts into the firing position. In combat, the mortar is elevated between 50° and 80°, and it can fire one round per minute.