This animation shows fire activity in Africa from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002. The fires are shown as tiny particles with each particle depicting the geographic region in which fire was detected. The color of a particle represents the number of days since a sizable amount of fire was detected in that region, with red representing less than 20 days, orange representing 20 to 40 days, yellow representing 40 to 60 days, and gray to black representing more than 60 days. This data was measured by the MODIS instrument on the Terra satellite. MODIS detects fires by measuring the brightness temperature of a region in several frequency bands and looking for hot spots where this temperature is greater than the surrounding region.

Highlights of this course include: Major biological, chemical and physical components of the agricultural systems The scientific basis for understanding these systems and their management How has science influenced policies related to agriculture, food safety and environment in the United States? How have the policies evolved over time in the US? What has worked and what has not; what are the reasons and what are the consequences? Beyond science, what other factors influence policies? How do we link what we learn to ecological agriculture? How do we use what we learn for policy analysis?

This animation shows a unique picture of seasonal and yearly fire activity. Here, global fire activity is displayed as tiny particles on a flat map with each particle depicting the site at which a fire was detected. Daily fires are displayed at a rate of 10 days per second. The fire particles fade over 1.7 seconds and change color as they age from red to orange, yellow and grey. A clock inset shows the date.

Images from NASAs Terra and Aqua satellites have become a regular part of the National Inter-agency Fire Centers firefighting toolkit. The images help the center track fires on a daily basis and are used in allocating precious firefighting resources.

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

This visualization shows the Southern California Fires.

The Chinese Chestnut is commonly mistaken for the American Chestnut. Here are some pointers on the differences between the two. The American Chestnut Society is attempting to re-establish the latter in the North American forest, and biotype diversity requires many American Chestnut crosses with resistant forms.

Photographs from Olympic National Forest, 1997

Photographs from Olympic National Forest, 1997

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.

In this case study, students examine tropical deforestation in the Amazon from the perspective of three dominant stakeholders in the region: a peasant farmer, logger, and environmentalist. As part of the exercise, students perform a cost-benefit analysis of clearing a plot of tropical forest in the Amazon from the perspective of one of these stakeholder groups. Developed for a course in global change biology, this case could also be used in courses in general ecology, environmental science, environmental ethics, environmental policy, and environmental/ecological economics.

This online activity is part of the museum's Online Field Journal Web site, where young children can explore the wonders of nature with the help of an adult. Here, they can create a replica of one of three museum dioramas. On the opening page, the three featured dioramas are Wetlands: A Wading Bird Rookery; Desert, A Giant Cactus Forest, and Forest: The Olympic Rain Forest. On the first page of each diorama activity, there is a full-color image of the diorama, plus links to printable pages with the diorama's background image and pieces. A separate instructions page is included that has kid-friendly step-by-step directions.

Fires in Colorado. July 23-24, 2000

Fires in Idaho. July 23-24, 2000

This BioBulletin Web site takes an in-depth look at the fires in Indonesia that burned millions of hectares of rain forest -- a local tragedy with global consequences. The site includes text, videos, photographs, and interviews with key scientists.

A view of the fires in Glacier National Park from Aqua-MODIS.