As the train steamed along the Rhine Valley, the river sparkling in the sunshine, Slovak documentary maker Matej Minac told his story.

BBC: Czech evacuees thank their saviour

In the Rio Grande valley cotton farmers worried that the lack of sunshine would prevent this year's crop from flowering.

ECONOMIST: Breathing Mexican air

By the Mendocino County line you are surrounded by tan, wide-open cowboy country, which gives way to the gentle green vineyards of Anderson Valley, then to dark corridors of redwoods, with shafts of sunshine piercing the gloom like smoky spotlights.

FORBES: Days of Wine and Redwoods