Relevant to our previous course material, this aerial image shows a fire burning in the Amazon rainforest in Porto Velho, Brazil. According to the Brazilian government, deforestation of the Amazon has reached its highest level in over a decade. About 9,762 square kilometers (3,769 square miles) of rainforest were lost in the 12 months leading up to July 2019, a 29.5% increase over the previous year and is reported to be the highest loss of rainforest since 2008, as reported by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE). Many of these fires can be attributed to illegal activity, such as agriculture, logging, and mining on protected land, as well as a lack of effort to protect the Amazon rainforest by current Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.
Aerial images such as these, as well as satellite data, can measure the rate of deforestation across the Amazon, in addition to recording the number and scale of ongoing fires. This can be useful in conservation efforts by not only fighting these fires, but also tracking and stopping the illegal activities that can cause them.
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