Decades of satellite data make it possible to map how deforestation has evolved over time.
Published Nov 21, 2019
The Amazon Rainforest of South America is rapidly falling as people colonize and develop a new frontier. Where there was once no such thing as an “Amazon fire season,” fires are now widespread in the dry season as people clear forest or manage already cleared plots of crop or grazing land.
Published Aug 16, 2007
Soybeans spread across new frontiers in Mapitoba—a hotspot of soy expansion in the northeast region of Brazil’s Cerrado.
Published Feb 27, 2015
Although forest clearing for pasture is the primary driver of Amazon deforestation in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, a new study led by scientists at the University of Maryland showed that large-scale mechanized agriculture, mostly for soybeans, is rapidly becoming a major force behind forest loss in the region.
Published Sep 21, 2006
In spite of its clear significance to the planet, the expansive region is a complex and challenging place for remote sensing scientists to study.
Published Sep 26, 2019
South America’s second-largest forest has been experiencing rapid tree losses in recent decades.
Published May 20, 2020
A new analysis shows how changes in the angle between the Sun and a satellite sensor interact to create the illusion of Amazon forest greening during the dry season.
Published Feb 7, 2014
New maps of understory forest fires in the southern Amazon suggest there’s little connection between deforestation and understory fires. Some indigenous reserves where deforestation is minimal still have frequent understory fires.
Published Jun 8, 2013
This pair of images reveals how dramatically and rapidly the Amazon can be transformed. The images compare deforested areas (tan) to forest (green) in 2000 (top) versus 2006 (bottom). The area, which is in southern Rondônia southwest of the Pacaás Novos National Park, was almost completely cleared during the period. The decreased greenness of the remaining forest in 2006 may be from a variety of causes: drought, degradation from logging or accidental fire, or different angles of observation during the two satellite overpasses.
Published Mar 31, 2007
Satellites have played a key role in monitoring and reducing the rate of deforestation in the rainforest.
Published Dec 19, 2019
Since the mid-1200s, the state has controlled Niepołomice Forest, which contains some of the last pockets of old-growth forest in Poland.
Published Nov 29, 2013
