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National Geographic July 18, 2016 - Although the feat has yet to be certified by Guinness World Records, Indian officials have reported that volunteers planted a whopping 49.3 million tree saplings on July 11, blowing past the previous record for most trees planted in a single day.

That record of 847,275 trees was set by Pakistan in 2013.

A reported 800,000 volunteers from Uttar Pradesh worked for 24 hours planting 80 different species of trees along roads, railways, and on public land. The saplings were raised on local nurseries.
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Photo courtesy Rajesh Kumar Singh / Associated Press

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heavy rain in Europe In late May and early June 2016 flooding began after several days of heavy rain in Europe, mostly Germany and France, but also Austria, Belgium, Romania, Moldova, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Among others, the German states of Bavaria, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, and North Rhine-Westphalia were affected. There was also severe flooding in France. Beginning at the river Neckar, also the Danube, Rhine, Seine and their tributaries were affected by high water and flooding along their banks.

Germany - The Baden-Württemberg village of Braunsbach was most heavily affected by the floods. After flash floods on 29 May 2016, small tributaries of the river Kocher flooded the streets of the village within minutes, and the roadways were buried under rocks, trees and car wrecks.

France - the river Seine burst its banks and one town was evacuated. Four people died in the floods. (Compare Flood level of the Seine in Paris 2016 against the flood height of 1910). Flooding in Paris was expected to peak at around 6.30 m above normal, higher than 6.18 m high seen in 1982, but below the 1955 flood level of 7.12 m, and the 1910 Paris flood which saw levels at 8.62 m above normal.

June 2, 2016 Louvre and Musée d’Orsay have shut their doors amid Paris floods  read more »

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The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km), three-mile-long (4.8 km) channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It opened in 1937 and was, until 1964, the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,300 m). It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Construction began on January 5, 1933. The project was finished and opened May 27, 1937. The bridge-opening celebration began on May 27, 1937 and lasted for one week. The day before vehicle traffic was allowed, 200,000 people crossed either on foot or on roller skates.

CNN May 27, 2016 Nearly 60,000 bridges across the country are in desperate need of repair. One example is just down the street from the White House and Capitol Hill. In the nation's capital, 68,000 vehicles cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge between Washington and Virginia every day. CNN was granted rare access to go inside the crumbling bridge. "It's just eroding and concrete is falling off," said National Park Service spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles as she showed how the original support beams from 1932 are corroding. The beams have never been replaced, and the bridge could be closed to vehicle traffic within five years if it isn't fixed. It'll cost $250 million.  read more »