The ‘Family of 5’ Primary Forests: A Snapshot of What Remains

 

Here’s a fact that should be disturbing to anyone concerned about our imperiled forests:

The pace of deforestation has accelerated so rapidly over the past 200 years that today our planet harbors only one-quarter of its original old-growth forest—i.e., forest that has never been logged or cleared.

Using detailed satellite imagery and geographic information system technology, scientists have produced moment-in-time snapshots of these remaining forested regions.

The pictures are not pretty.

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