Death Valley

Death Valley is a desert basin in eastern California and western Nevada, mostly within Death Valley National Park. Its Badwater Basin reaches 282 feet below sea level, the lowest elevation in North America.

Badwater Basin: A salt flat in Death Valley whose surface lies 282 feet below sea level. Its elevation marks the lowest point in North America.
Rain shadow: A dry region on the leeward side of a mountain range, shielded from moisture-bearing winds. Mountain barriers reduce the rainfall reaching the valley.
Furnace Creek: A settlement and visitor center in Death Valley, California. Its weather station records temperatures in the valley.
Timbisha Shoshone: A Native American people whose homeland includes Death Valley and surrounding areas. Their deep ties to the valley predate its national park designation.
World Meteorological Organization: A United Nations agency that coordinates international work on weather, climate, and water. It recognizes the valley’s 1913 temperature record as the highest reliably measured air temperature.
Death Valley National Park: A national park in California and Nevada that protects Death Valley and surrounding desert landscapes. The valley forms the park’s central landscape.
Adiabatic heating: Warming that occurs when air is compressed as it descends under higher pressure. Descending air helps heat the low basin.
Zabriskie Point: A viewpoint in Death Valley National Park overlooking eroded badlands. Its colorful slopes expose sedimentary layers shaped by erosion.
California Gold Rush: The mass migration to California after the discovery of gold in 1848. Gold-seeking migrations helped bring outsiders into the region.
Climate change in the Mojave Desert: Long-term changes in temperature, precipitation, and ecological conditions across the Mojave Desert. Warming threatens to intensify heat and alter the valley’s fragile ecosystems.

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