Central America

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Central America

Learn how deforestation in Central American countries like Belize gives way to erosion and poverty

cathedral, Comayagua, Honduras

Mayan pyramid, Chichén Itzá, Mexico

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Central America, c. 1900

Smoke from Central American forest fires drifting over North America, as measured by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on May 22, 1998.NASA's Earth Probe Mission satellite can detect smoke in the atmosphere and is thus able to monitor large fires from space. Aboard the satellite, TOMS measures aerosols, enabling scientists to create maps of the smoke's density.

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Central America: Related Content

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Last Updated: Jun 12, 2025

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Photos and Videos

Central America

cathedral, Comayagua, Honduras

Mayan pyramid, Chichén Itzá, Mexico

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Central America, c. 1900

Smoke from Central American forest fires drifting over North America, as measured by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on May 22, 1998.NASA's Earth Probe Mission satellite can detect smoke in the atmosphere and is thus able to monitor large fires from space. Aboard the satellite, TOMS measures aerosols, enabling scientists to create maps of the smoke's density.

Spanish viceroyalties and Portuguese territories in the Americas, 1780

Learn how deforestation in Central American countries like Belize gives way to erosion and poverty

Examine Central America's reliance on plantation cultivation of warm-weather crops like coffee and sugarcane

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