Launched the first world map of Earth forest area

US scientists have successfully created a high resolution map that tracks changes in the forest area on Earth in the 21st century.

The map provides an overall view of the global forest system and is an effective tool for governments to manage precious natural resources.

According to a study published in the journal Science on November 14, a team of experts from the University of Maryland, technology group Google and the US government collaborated to build a map based on surface satellite imagery Earth at 30m resolution.

Research shows that between 2000 and 2012, about 2.3 million square kilometers of forest on Earth disappeared, nearly equal to Argentina's area, while only about 0.8 million square kilometers were greened. come back.

Map of the area of ​​Earth forest.(Source: BBC)

Indonesia is the country with the fastest increase in deforestation, increasing by more than 50% to 20,000 km ² / year in 2011.

However, Brazil is the country with the largest annual loss of forest area, decreasing by 50% from 40,000 km ² in 2002 to 20,000 km ² in 2010.

The head of the project, geography professor Matthew Hansen of the University of Maryland, said this is a map of the world's first consistent forest density change and detail of each region.

The team said that through the new map, every country would have access to a massive set of data that included fundamental, consistent and clear information regarding serious environmental issues. .

These include: the cause of changes in forest density, the status of natural forests in the world, threats from changing forest areas, impacting from efforts to prevent blocking deforestation .

According to Professor Hansen, the development of forest maps comes from the realization that the disappearance or regeneration of forests seriously affects many aspects of the ecosystem including climate, carbon in the atmosphere. , biodiversity and water resources.

Besides, the scientific community so far has not provided a detailed, accurate and ready data system about changes of forest systems from local to global levels.

In a related development, the Brazilian government on the same day led satellite data in 12 months to July 2013, saying deforestation in the Amazon rainforest area increased by 28% compared to 2012.

The total amount of encroached forest land in the world's largest tropical forest is 5,843 km ² , roughly the same size as the Delaware state of the United States. This is the second lowest figure since Brazil launched a campaign to monitor deforestation through satellite.

According to the government, deforestation mainly comes from the expansion of farmers' cultivation and large infrastructure construction plans.