This series of animations depicts the results of a computer simulation of the effects of deforestation on the surface temperature and precipitation in the Amazon region. Six animations are shown - a control simulation, a deforestation simulation, and the difference between the two for both surface temperature and rainfall. The period simulated is the second half of 1987.

Photographs from Olympic National Forest, 1997

An animation of Bolivian deforestation from 1984 to 1998 from Landsat imagery

The Landsat Project was started to study the land and land processes. The program is now working on Landsat 7. We are able to compare older data sets to newer ones. Using a Landsat images of Bolivia taken in 1984 and 2000, we can see the dramatic deforestation of the Bolivian rainforest.

Photographs from Olympic National Forest, 1997

Photographs from Olympic National Forest, 1997

Students learn about using renewable energy from the Sun for heating and cooking as they build and compare the performance of four solar cooker designs. They explore the concepts of insulation, reflection, absorption, conduction and convection.

Photographs from Olympic National Forest, 1997

This visualization adapted from NASA features two satellite images from 1984 and 2000 that show the dramatic deforestation of the Bolivian rainforest.

Throughout much of the 1980s, deforestation in Brazil eliminated more than 15,000 square kilometers (9000 square miles) per year. That pace has only increased through the 90s and into the 21st century. Brazil is also home to more than a quarter of Earths tropical forests. Considering that the band of lush green that circles the globe through many equatorial nations is fundamental to the overall health of the whole planets environment, careful monitoring of forest health in the tropics is essential. Tropical forests act as major carbon sinks, places where ambient carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be absorbed by growing things and sequestered for years. Definitive evidence shows that excess carbon dioxide can contribute to the greenhouse effect and speed global warming. Similarly, tropical forests also act as a primary producer of oxygen. In the respiration process that absorbs gaseous carbon dioxide, trees and other plants give off oxygen. It is for these and a host of other reasons why scientists and policy makers need to monitor and forestall wholesale deforestation. This sequence shows how profligate clear cutting can influence that trust. Data gathered over time by several in the Landsat series of spacecraft shows enormous tracts of forest disappearing in Rondonia, Brazil. This territory underwent an enormous rise in population towards the end of the twentieth century, buoyed by cheap land offered by the national government for agricultural use. As you see the visualization progress, it is useful to note how the human phenomenon of deforestation generally works, especially in the dense tropical forests of Brazil. Systematic cutting of a road opens new territory to potential deforestation by penetrating into new areas. Clearing of vegetation along the sides of those roads tends to fan out to create a pattern akin to a fish skeleton. As new paths appear in the woods, new areas become vulnerable. The spaces between the skeletal bones fall to defoliation, and another inch of the Earths biological rudder is no longer reliably steering the planet into the future.

Students begin by reading Dr. Seuss' The Lorax as an example of how over-development can cause long-lasting environmental destruction. Students discuss how to balance the needs of the environment with the needs of human industry. Student teams are asked to serve as natural resource engineers, city planning engineers and civil engineers with the task to replant the nearly destroyed forest and develop a sustainable community design that can co-exist with the re-established natural area.

This educational brief presents a discussion of how the Landsat project has been able to provide data on environmental changes and potential problems. Topics include a short history of the project, an overview of the sorts of environmental issues Landsat satellites are able to "see" from space, and a brief description of ground truthing and how it supports remotely sensed data.

Zooming down to Bolivia, showing a time-lapse sequence of Landsat images from 1984 to 1998

This BioBulletin Web site takes a close look at the Lyme disease epidemic in the U.S. The site includes text, videos, photographs, and interviews with key scientists. The Introduction lays out the set of biological and environmental circumstances that have converged to create the perfect conditions for a Lyme disease epidemic. Trees, Ticks, and Spirochetes takes an in-depth look at Lyme disease, including its ecology. Fewer Trees, More Disease examines the link between deforestation and Lyme disease epidemics. Outbreaks from Outer Space discusses landscape epidemiology and how satellite imagery is being used to study and predict high-risk areas. Disease Detectives looks at the work of epidemiologists and how they solved the mystery of Lyme disease.

Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980, devastating more than 150 square miles of forest in southwestern Washington state. This animation shows Landsat images of the Mount St. Helens area in 1973, 1983, and 2000, illustrating the destruction and regrowth of the forest. The 1983 image clearly shows the new crater on the northern slope where the eruption occurred, the rivers and lakes covered with ash, and the regions of deforestation. The 2000 image, taken twenty years after the eruption, still shows the changed crater, but much of the devastated area is covered by new vegetation growth.

Photographs from Olympic National Forest, 1997

Throughout much of the 1980s, deforestation in Brazil eliminated more than 15,000 square kilometers (9000 square miles) of forest per year. Data gathered by several satellites in the Landsat series of spacecraft shows enormous tracts of forest disappearing in Rondonia, Brazil from 1975 through 2001. The human phenomenon of deforestation starts, especially in the dense tropical forests of Brazil, when systematic cutting of a road opens new territory to potential deforestation by penetrating into new areas. Clearing of vegetation along the sides of those roads then tends to fan out to create a pattern akin to a fish skeleton. As new paths appear in the woods, more areas become vulnerable. Finally, the spaces between the skeletal bones fall to defoliation.