Researchers analyzed 25 years of Landsat data to establish where forests had burned or been cut.
Published Jun 27, 2017
In recent decades, industrial logging has intensified in the dense tropical forests of central Africa, but few data sets exist that can help ecologists and policymakers monitor the occurrence and impact of logging over wide areas in that part of the world.
Published Jul 5, 2007
This pair of images show patterns of forest clearing and regrowth in Wasghington state over 26 years. Such images help scientists understand how human decisions impact the carbon cycle and Earth’s climate.
Published Jul 5, 2011
By changing a percentage, institutions can take some forested lands off the map.
Published Dec 18, 2015
The deep green forest that covers the northern mountains of Madeira Island is one of the last remnants of an ancient forest that once covered much of Europe and North Africa.
Published May 15, 2010
A new map of the biomass in the United States allows scientists and land managers to see tree cover down to the scale of individual plots of land.
Published Feb 17, 2012
From the Pacific Northwest—home of the towering redwoods&mdash to the Southern Appalachians, this map shows forest canopy heights across the United States.
Published Jul 22, 2010
Differences in how international and national institutions classify forests can lead to large discrepancies in measurements of land cover.
Published Nov 17, 2015
In British Columbia’s Coast Mountains, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) inland from the Pacific Ocean, rivers and lakes cut tortuous paths through rugged terrain. The peaks and valleys in this region are covered with forest, but the forest has changed over the years due to human use and insect pests, in particular, the mountain pine beetle.
Published Oct 12, 2008
Mapping the density and location of tree cover can help the nation reduce deforestation and offset carbon emissions.
Published Nov 5, 2015
Forests in drylands are much more extensive than previously reported.
Published Aug 10, 2017
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
Climate change could lead to a net loss of plant life in some regions, and also could change the ratio of species that grow in them.
Published Oct 17, 2019
Brown bears abound on this Alaskan island, parts of which have seen both widespread clear-cutting and forest regrowth in recent decades.
Published Apr 24, 2020
A small plane flying low over remote forests is sending back eye-popping aerial photography—as well as scientific measurements that will improve understanding of how Alaska’s forests are responding to global warming.
Published Jul 25, 2014
The amount of carbon that is being stored by trees and how it has changed over time is the least understood aspect of the global carbon cycle.
Published Jan 27, 2020
Political change in Eastern Europe and Russia has left its mark on forests in the region.
Published Jul 16, 2015
The opening of the Landsat data archive and a partnership with Google has allowed researchers to track the fine details of forest change around the world.
Published May 7, 2015
Research shows that very similar boreal landscapes produce very different types of fires.
Published Feb 4, 2015
As the size of British Columbia’s pine beetle infestation has grown, forest managers have begun to need a technique to identify damage over large areas. Relying on a variety of data sources, including satellite data, scientists from Goddard Space Flight Center conducted a survey of insect-damaged forests in British Columbia. This image shows their assessment of insect damage overlain on a topography map.
Published Dec 19, 2008
Land use decisions may have altered climate and contributed to the collapse of Mayan society in the tenth century.
Published Feb 1, 2012
Gishwati Forest suffered severe deforestation, evident in these true-color images.
Published Jun 9, 2009
To celebrate Earth Day, Earth Observatory released a series of five puzzlers. Except for Thetford forest, all showed landscapes relatively untouched by human society.
Published Apr 27, 2013
