Tracking Amazon Deforestation

  • Released Monday, April 19, 2021
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The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, nearly as big as the continental United States. But every year, less of that forest is still standing. Today's deforestation across the Amazon frontier is tractors and bulldozers clearing large swaths to make room for industrial-scale cattle ranching and crops. Landsat satellite data is used to map land cover in Brazil with a historical perspective, going back to 1984.

Music: Organic Circuit by Richard Birkin [PRS]; Into the Atmosphere by Sam Joseph Delves [PRS]; Ethereal Journey by Noé Bailleux [SACEM]; Wildfires by Magnum Opus [ASCAP]; Letter For Tomorrow by Anthony d’Amario [SACEM].

Complete transcript available.

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

The Amazon is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, nearly as big as the continental United States. But every year, less of that forest is still standing. Today's deforestation across the Amazon frontier is tractors and bulldozers clearing large swaths to make room for industrial-scale cattle ranching and crops. So far, the amount of area that's been deforested in the Brazilian Amazon alone is equivalent to the size of the state of California.



Scientists like Tasso Azevedo of MapBiomas and Doug Morton of NASA use satellite data to map land cover in Brazil with a historical perspective. Using the Landsat archive, they can precisely identify where the massive forest has been cleared and if it was permitted. The aim of MapBiomas is to enable better decisions for managing their natural resources.



The Landsat Program is a series of Earth-observing satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Landsat satellites have been consistently gathering data about our planet since 1972. They continue to improve and expand this unparalleled record of Earth's changing landscapes for the benefit of all.

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Monday, April 19, 2021.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:44 PM EDT.

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