Land use decisions may have altered climate and contributed to the collapse of Mayan society in the tenth century.
Published Feb 1, 2012
This series of maps shows how much the landscape of the eastern United States changed between 1650 and 1992. The maps depict canopy height, the height of the tallest continuous layer of vegetation.
Published Feb 2, 2008
Differences in how international and national institutions classify forests can lead to large discrepancies in measurements of land cover.
Published Nov 17, 2015
A series of maps showing land use in 1850 and 1920.
Published Feb 9, 2008
South America’s second-largest forest has been experiencing rapid tree losses in recent decades.
Published May 20, 2020
Gishwati Forest suffered severe deforestation, evident in these true-color images.
Published Jun 9, 2009
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
By changing a percentage, institutions can take some forested lands off the map.
Published Dec 18, 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
Forests are being turned into rubber plantations, farmland, and timber at a rapid rate.
Published Jan 10, 2017
The Madre de Dios region has a rich concentration of endemic species, but their habitats are being threatened by human activity.
Published Apr 19, 2019
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
This global map shows Earth’s anthropogenic biomes—ecological patterns caused or influenced by human activity.
Published Oct 2, 2009
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
The Chinese city has reclaimed land from shallow coastal waters at a rapid rate.
Published Dec 11, 2019
Satellites help land managers and city planners track city growth and ecosystem health around Portland, Oregon.
Published Aug 2, 2012
