It"s American Wetlands Month, a time to celebrate swamps, marshes, bogs, and other types of these important ecosystems. Wetlands play a vital role in storing carbon, improving water quality, and serving as habitat for many endangered plants and animals, including American crocodiles and whooping cranes. And yet, wetlands are threatened. Over the centuries, they have been drained to provide land for farming, industry, and housing. Pollution and invasive plants pose further threats. Since the late 1700s, more than half of the 221 million acres of wetlands that once existed in the 48 contiguous states have disappeared.
American Wetlands Month
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Engineering an artificial harbor in Normandy
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Village of Saranac Lake, New York
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Brown pelican, San Diego, California
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Do spirits haunt the Gardens of Versailles?
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A castle fit for a count
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Spring equinox
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Veterans Day
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An uncommonly cool critter
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The most Instagrammable bird?
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Lake Magadi, Kenya
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International Surfing Day
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Aura River in Turku, Finland
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International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples
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Wicker fields in Cañamares, Spain
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High above the reef
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An octagonal architectural treasure
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Kochelsee in Bavaria
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Village of Zahara de la Sierra, Cadiz, Spain
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Sea Slug Day
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Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles, Bavaria, Germany
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Greetings from Asbury Park
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Frost on autumn leaves
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The Grand Départ: Tour de France begins
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It s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
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Elephant Rock, Al-Ula, Saudi Arabia
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Old Town in Prague, Czech Republic
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Wild garlic in bloom at Hainich National Park, Germany
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North Sea at sunset, Norddorf, Germany
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Its Halfway Day!
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Old Town of Rovinj, Croatia
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

