A new interactive online tool was able to map high-resolution images showing the extent of the global forest loss since 2000.
Researchers define "forest loss" as a stand-replacement disturbance, or a change from a forest to non-forest state measured on annual basis. The opposite is called "forest gain."
Researchers from the University of Maryland led by Prof. Matthew Hansen have partnered with Google Earth in creating a chart of Earth's tree canopies from 2000 to 2012. The images were taken by Landsat 7 which takes cloud-free satellite images of the Earth's surface. They entire global chart of forest change consists of 650,000 images.
The global chart presented the major forest loss experienced by Earth especially that of Mongolia. The total forest loss is as big as six U.K combined.
"This is the first map of forest change that is globally consistent and locally relevant. What would have taken a single computer 15 years to perform was completed in a matter of days using Google Earth Engine computing," wrote Prof. Hansen in the paper.
Overall, the planet lost about 2.3 million square kilometers of forest area between 2000 to 2012. The researchers cited that the loss was caused by both environmental and human factors such as fire, storm, and logging. On a positive note, Earth has gained about 1.5 million square kilometers of new forest with Brazil showing the most improvement.
Indonesia has the largest increase in forest loss with about 200,000 square kilometers between 2011 and 2012 alone. However, top of the list are still Paraguay, Malaysia and Cambodia.
Researchers will be updating the global map yearly using the satellite images taken by Landsat 8. They will also monitor if there will be any forest gain once different forest management programs are implemented by different countries.
The study was published on the Nov. 15 issue of the online journal Science. Other teams involved in the study are the State University of New York, South Dakota State University, Woods Hole Research Center and the United States Geological Survey.
