MAAP #189: Amazon Fire Season Heats Up
The Amazon fire season is well under way: to date, we have detected over 260 major fires thus far in 2023 (see Base Map below). This year is of special concern because scientists indicate we have entered a new El…
MAAP #187: Amazon Deforestation & Fire Hotspots 2022
We present a detailed look at the major 2022 Amazon forest loss hotspots, based on the final annual data recently released by the University of Maryland (and featured on Global Forest Watch). This dataset is unique in that it is…
MAAP #183: Protected Areas & Indigenous Territories Effective Against Deforestation Across Amazon
As deforestation continues to threaten primary forest across the Amazon, key land use designations are one of the best hopes for the long-term conservation of critical remaining intact forests. Here, we evaluate the impact of two of the most important: …
MAAP #178: Gold Mining Deforestation Across the Amazon
Gold Mining is one of the major deforestation drivers across the Amazon. Although not typically at the scale of agricultural deforestation, gold mining has the potential to severely impact critical areas such as protected areas & indigenous territories. Relatedly, gold…
MAAP #168: Amazon Fire Season 2022
Here we provide a concise review of the 2022 Amazon fire season, based on the unique data from our real-time Amazon Fires Monitoring app.* In a novel approach, the app combines data from the atmosphere (aerosol emissions in smoke) and…
MAAP #164: Amazon Tipping Point – Where Are We?
It is increasingly reported that the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, is rapidly approaching a tipping point. As repeatedly highlighted by the late Tom Lovejoy (see Acknowledgements), this tipping point is where parts of the rainforest will convert…
MAAP #160: Lasers Estimate Carbon in the Amazon – NASA’s GEDI Mission
NASA’s GEDI mission uses lasers to provide cutting-edge estimates of aboveground biomass and related carbon on a global scale. Launched in late 2018 and installed on the International Space Station, GEDI’s lasers return an estimate of aboveground biomass density at…
MAAP #158: Amazon Deforestation & Fire Hotspots 2021
We present a detailed look at the major 2021 Amazon forest loss hotspots, based on the final annual data produced by the University of Maryland. This dataset is unique in that distinguishes forest loss from fire, leaving the rest as…
MAAP #157: New and Proposed Roads Across the Western Amazon
Extensive deforestation, especially along the major road networks, has shockingly turned the eastern Brazilian Amazon into a net carbon source (see MAAP #144). Fortunately, the greater Amazon across all nine countries is still a net carbon sink, largely thanks to…
MAAP #153: Amazon Deforestation Hotspots 2021
We present a first look at the major 2021 Amazon deforestation hotspots.* The Amazon Base Map illustrates several key findings:p We estimate the loss of over 1.9 million hectares (4.8 million acres) of primary forest loss across the nine countries…