Joshua Tree National Park, for example, remained open after the shutdown, but then suffered temporary or partial closings as officials struggled to keep up with the toll visitors had taken. At some parks, volunteers have stepped in to help with cleanup.

[Read more on how parks and museums are affected by the shutdown.]

Limited staffing has also raised questions about visitor safety. At least three people have died on National Park Service land since the shutdown began, and while it is unclear if the shutdown had any effect on the authorities’ immediate responses to the accidents, the announcement of at least one of the deaths was reportedly delayed because of the lack of resources.

Museums have been affected, too. The National Gallery of Art, all 19 Smithsonian museums, and the National Zoo were closed last week because of the shutdown. (“Essential personnel” remain on hand at the zoo to care for the animals.)

[Though the museum is closed, you may still be able to see the art within. Some paintings have a double life online.]

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Science, research and public health

The scientific community has been affected, too. Some government labs are empty, with scientists having been sent home. Research, some of it time sensitive, has been disrupted. And the flow of grant money may be interrupted, too.

Some agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, are largely or entirely unaffected. But others, such as the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the National Weather Service, have sent many workers home.

[Read more about the shutdown’s toll on science and research.]

Inspections of chemical factories, power plants, oil refineries, water treatment plants, and thousands of other industrial sites have also ground to a halt because the Environmental Protection Agency had to furlough most of its employees in charge of inspecting pollution and monitoring compliance.