Impressions of Earth Blog

The Amazon – Deforestation, Indigenous Tribes and Their Land

Monique — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:53:51 +0000

The world’s forests contain some of the most richest and most diverse habitats on earth. They represent a vast reservoir of knowledge and contain a wealth of ecosystems and wildlife, with many species yet to be discovered. Inhabitants of forests have genuine rights to use the forests. A balance must be achieved between saving the forest and protecting the rights of those who have inherited rights to use them. Not only is there a need to focus on deforestation and the real causes behind it, but also on reforestation programs across the world.

Brazil Rainforest – The Amazon

Image Credit: NASA

Bolivia Deforestation

To view Video of CNN Anderson Cooper on Deforestation

Amazon Rainforest is a moist broadleaf forest in South America. The area also known as Amazonia, the Amazon jungle or the Amazon Basin, encompasses seven million square kilometers (1.7 billion acres) located within nine nations: Brazil (with 60 percent of the rainforest), Peru (with 13 percent of the rainforest, second after Brazil), Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. The Amazon represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world.

Tierras Bajas region of Santa Cruz, Bolivia as observed by the Thematic Mapper (TM) flying aboard Landsat 5. Click on Image for Larger View. (NASA)

The Amazon is so large that it is virtually impossible to study the evolving landscapes within the basin without the use of satellite images or aerial photography. Scientists have used satellite images to observe and monitor the Amazon for more than 30 years to seek answers about this diverse ecosystem and the patterns and processes of land cover changes. This technology continues to advance and a new study shows that satellite images can allow scientists to more quickly and accurately assess deforestation in the Amazon.

Rondonia, Brazil Deforestation

Click on Image for Larger View

August 24, 2000, the false-color image combines near-infrared, red, and green light. Tropical rainforest appears bright red, while pale red and brown areas represent cleared land. Black and gray areas have probably been recently burned. The Jiparaná River appears blue.

Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan

This vast rainforest remained almost untouched by the western culture until the first half of last century. There are hundreds of indigenous tribes in the Amazon rainforest. There are still over 200 indigenous groups in the Amazon Rainforest, talking 180 different languages and each with their own cultural heritage. There are at least 50 groups that still don’t have regular contact with the outside. Indigenous peoples are increasingly faced with threats to their sovereignty, environment, and access to natural resources.The Brazilian government policy towards these groups is to leave them alone, as they wish. Not very much is known about these groups as they keep going deeper and deeper into the forest as the outsiders get closer to where they live.

To view high resolution satellite photo of Deforestation in Brazil

Children of the Forests

Image Courtesy of NASA

Indigenous societies possess an often unique body of cultural and environmental knowledge. The preservation and investigation of specialized indigenous knowledge, particularly in relation to the resources of the natural environment with which the society is associated, is an increasingly sought-after goal of both the indigenous and the societies who thereby seek to identify new resources and benefits.

Helpful Links

To view Satellite Image Art of South America click here

http://forests.org/links/Tropical_Rainforests/Indigenous___Local_Peoples/welcome.asp

http://www.rainforestweb.org/Rainforest_Regions/South_America/

Satellite Photo Gallery – Images of Earth – Our Changing Planet

Monique — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:39:19 +0000

The Earth, our home in space, is a varied and dynamic place. Since the beginning of human history we have sought a better understanding of the world around us. With the new technology of the aerospace age and satellite image technology, we can look back and appreciate the diversity and the beauty of the Earth in a way not possible until the 20th century.

Malaspina Glacier, Alaska

Since 1990’s a new generation of satellite sensors with powerful capabilities have been launched to collect massive amounts of data about our planet and the many changes it has experienced.

Satellite images have been collected for scientific and technical purposes as well as just appreciating its simple beauty. These satellites collect information that our eyes cannot. There are dozens of remote sensing satellites orbiting the Earth collecting invaluable information about the Earth’s surface, oceans and the atmosphere and how they interact.

Satellite images provide important land coverage information for mapping and classification of land cover features, such as vegetation, soil, water and forests for monitoring and managing Earth’s vital natural resources and the current global climate changes.

Impressions of Earth – Satellite Photo Art Gallery

To View Gallery Click on Image

Image credit: NASA

Global Climate Change

The Earth’s climate has changed throughout history. From glacial periods (or “ice ages”) where ice covered significant portions of the Earth to interglacial periods where ice retreated to the poles or melted entirely – the climate has continuously changed.

Malaspina Glacier, Alaska

The shallow end of this Glacier is melting swiftly. Glaciologists have determined that areas of the glacial lobe were 98 feet lower in 2004 than they were in 2000. That’s double the rate of pre-1999 thinning.

The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years.

Scientists have been able to piece together a picture of the Earth’s climate dating back decades to millions of years ago by analyzing a number of surrogate, or “proxy,” measures of climate such as ice cores, boreholes, tree rings, glacier lengths, pollen remains, and ocean sediments, and by studying changes in the Earth’s orbit around the sun.

Since the Industrial Revolution (around 1750), human activities have substantially added to the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The burning of fossil fuels and biomass (living matter such as vegetation) has also resulted in emissions of aerosols that absorb and emit heat, and reflect light.

The addition of greenhouse gases and aerosols has changed the composition of the atmosphere. The changes in the atmosphere have likely influenced temperature, precipitation, storms and sea level. However, these features of the climate also vary naturally, so determining what fraction of climate changes are due to natural variability versus human activities is challenging.

Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. Studying this data collected over many years reveal the signals of a changing climate.

Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere will increase during the next century unless greenhouse gas emissions decrease substantially from present levels. Increased greenhouse gas concentrations are very likely to raise the Earth’s average temperature, influence precipitation and some storm patterns as well as raise sea levels. The magnitude of these changes, however, is uncertain.

More Resources on Earth Observation::

NASA Web Site on Global Climate Change – A Web site from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory devoted to educating the public about Earth’s changing climate. The Global Climate Change Web site provides easy-to-understand information about the causes and effects of climate change and how NASA studies it.

Book of NASA Satellite Imagery of Global Climate Change: http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/eos_homepage/for_scientists/data_products/ourchangingplanet.php

Earth Sciences Portal: http://earthsciencesportal.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Satellite Tracker: http://orbits.eoportal.org/

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