Amazon Deforestation Trends

Starting with a comparison of Brazil with the continental United States, this video shows the changes in land use across all of Brazil from 1985-2018. Then we take a close look at the town of Novo Progresso and show how the north/south corridor in this area opened up from 1985 to 2018. 2019 fire data is also used to show controlled burns in order to clear cut forest areas for other use.

We look at the general area around the town of Novo Progresso in the Brazilian state of Pará and show how the north/south corridor in this area opened up from 1985 to 2018. 2019 fire data is also used to show controlled burns in order to clear cut forest areas for other use.

A look at the general area around the towns of Colíder and Sinop in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso and show how land use along the southern part of the Amazonia biome changed from 1985 to 2018. In this area, portions of the rainforest have been converted to cropland and pastures. 2019 fire data is also used to show controlled burns in order to clear cut forest areas for other use.

The area around the town of Ji-Paraná, in the Brazilian state of Rondônia, already shows the so-called "fishbone" pattern of deforestation in 1985. From 1985 to 2018, deforestation continued. 2019 fire data is also used to show controlled burns in order to clear cut forest areas for other use.

This video shows the general area around the city of Rio Branco, in the western Brazilian state of Acre, and how the land use changed from 1985 to 2018. 2019 fire data is also used to show controlled burns in order to clear cut forest areas for other use.

A look at the construction of the Balbina Dam and how it changed the Uatumã Biological Reserve from 1985 to 2018. 2019 fire data is also used to show controlled burns in order to clear cut forest areas for other use.

BR-230, the Trans-Amazonian Highway, has made it easier to transport lumber to the global market. The section connecting the towns of Itaituba and Uruará in the Brazilian state of Pará shows the so-called "fishbone" pattern of deforestation from 1985 to 2018. 2019 fire data is also used to show controlled burns in order to clear cut forest areas for other use.

A wide view of the Amazonia biome across Northern Brazil, especially the states of Mato Grosso, Pará, and Maranhao, which have seen wide-scale conversion from forest to pasture and cropland. Using data from MapBiomas and Landsat, this video shows annual land use change from 1985 to 2018. 2019 fire data is also used to show controlled burns in order to clear cut forest areas for other use.

The Amazon has undergone major transformations throughout the past three decades (1985 - 2018). Working closely with their Brazilian counterparts, NASA scientists have mapped the entire country of Brazil to show different kinds of land use throughout the country. This new data is based on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). As part of this research, we look closely at the town of Novo Progresso and try to give the viewer a sense of this area's size by comparing the deforested areas to the relative size of a soccer field.