New Map: Earth Lost 888,000 Square Miles of Forest Since 2000

An interactive map based on satellite data coordinated by University of Maryland geographers shows that 888,000 square miles of forest has vanished from the globe since 2000, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The calculations cover the whole globe and are accurate down to 100 feet. Researchers can see logging roads, tornado tracks and evidence of insect infestations.

Green areas on the map represent the forest extent. Red areas represent forest area lost between 2000 and 2012.

"We say that it's globally consistent but locally relevant," Matt Hansen, a geographer at the University of Maryland who led the mapping effort, told the Monitor. "We can describe a global dynamic and compare regions as apples to apples, but if you cut out any particular corner, it would be accurate and have meaning."

The map was made possible by data from the Landsat 7 satellite, which has been photographing Earth since 1999, and Google's cloud computing, which was able to archive all of that data in only a few days.

Hansen and his colleagues reported in the Nov. 15 issue of the journal Science that from 2000 to 2012, 309,000 square miles of new forests were gained. Of the 888,000 square miles lost and 309,000 square miles gained, about 77,000 square miles were areas that were lost between 2000 and 2012 and then re-established.

Indonesia saw the fastest increases in deforestation. Before 2003, the country lost less than 4,000 square miles (10,000 square km) per year. By 2011, more than 7,700 square miles of Indonesian forests vanished each year.

The University of Maryland team plans to continue to update the map annually, and hopes to be able to raise the deforestation alarm even more frequently in the future.