A newly released high-resolution map of global forests created with the help of Google Earth is the first of its kind to reveal the extent of the losses and gains suffered by the Earth's forests in such vivid detail.
The findings, however, aren't so encouraging. According to the map's accompanying study, the Earth lost 888,000 square miles of forest while gaining only 309,000 square miles in return from 2000-2012. The widely-reported reductions in deforestation in Brazil were offset by major losses in Indonesia, Malaysia, Paraguay, Bolivia, Zambia, Angola, according to the study.
"This is the first map of forest change that is globally consistent and locally relevant," said Matthew Hansen, a professor of geographical sciences from the University of Maryland.
You can view the map here.
To create the map, the University of Maryland teamed up with 14 other universities, government engineers and Google. Thanks to Google Earth, which includes Landsat data, calculations that would have taken an ordinary computer 15 years to complete were completed in just a few days.
"Losses or gains in forest cover shape many important aspects of an ecosystem, including climate regulation, carbon storage, biodiversity and water supplies, but until now there has not been a way to get detailed, accurate, satellite-based and readily available data on forest cover change from local to global scales," said Hansen.
The researchers are hoping the data can help showcase the alarming rate of reduction versus gain by bringing transparency to the issue. Hansen points out the Brazilian government used Landsat data in its efforts to slow down deforestation.
The study also shows that a government suspension of new logging licenses in Indoniesia in 2011 actually increased deforestation.
You can read the full published study detailing the findings in the journal Science.
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