When explorers from Portugal landed on the shores of what is now Brazil in 1500, the Atlantic Forest, seen here, is what greeted them. Before colonization, the forest the Portuguese called ‘Mata Atlântica’ is estimated to have covered nearly 400,000 square miles, and possibly as many as 600,000. As Brazil celebrates its independence today, the Atlantic Forest is in peril--85 percent of it has been destroyed to make room for agriculture and development.
An historic forest
Today in History
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Infinity Day
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The Crown of the Continent
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National Museum of African American History and Culture
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Ringing in the new year at Teotihuacan
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Cinco de Mayo
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Land of the midnight sun
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Is that a smile?
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Square Tower House in Mesa Verde National Park
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A circular celebration
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Teacher Appreciation Day
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AAPI Heritage Month & Lei Day
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Through an artist s eyes
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Azaleas blooming on Hwangmaesan Mountain, South Korea
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Summer solstice
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Golling Waterfall, Salzburg, Austria
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Racing toward history
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Indigenous Peoples Day
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Kinder Scout, Peak District National Park, England
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Bear Hole Brook, Catskill Mountains, New York
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A bohemian feline
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Field of Light at Sensorio by Bruce Munro
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It’s Penguin Awareness Day
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What s cuter than nuzzling rhinos?
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International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples
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Corjuem Fort in Goa, India
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Dog days of summer
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In orbit for Yuri s Night
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Al-Khazneh in Petra, Jordan
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Turning darkness into light
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A hero for the 21st century