Amazon Rainforest Pictures

Here are Amazon forest pictures from space. Satellite observation of the Amazon is the best way to keep track on the ongoing deforestation of the region.

Here’s a cool picture that shows how the Amazon has a dry period too, where the skies have nice fluffy clouds. The Amazon River is up at the top of the image, with some of its other tributaries further down in the picture.

The next of our Amazon pictures was captured by NASA’s Terra satellite. It’s mostly untouched forest, but you can see regions of deforestation near the top center. The red dots in the image are fires, likely used to clear forested land.

This is a photograph of the Mato Grosso region of the Amazon forest. Officials in Brazil think that almost 50% of the deforestation in the Amazon in recent years occurred in this region.

Here’s a beautiful image of the Amazon captured by the crew of the space shuttle. You can see large clouds of smoke coming from deforestation activities in the region, as farmers clear land for cattle.

Here’s an image that shows the amount of deforestation going on in the Amazon rainforest. You can see the alternating strips of forest and clearcuts as farmers expand deeper into the forest.

We’ve written several episodes about the Amazon rainforest for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the world’s widest river, and here’s a story about how deforestation in Brazil is affecting the local climate.

If you’d like more info on the Amazon, check out this article on Amazon deforestation from NASA, and how the Amazon is very resilient to drought.

We’ve recorded several episodes of Astronomy Cast which are on this topic. Check out Episode 151: Atmospheres.