p

The estimated change in forested area between 2000 and 2008 is shown in this map (above) based on data from MODIS. Places that are red lost vegetation, while places that are peach showed little or no change. The most intensely red areas indicate the biggest vegetation lossesusually the complete clearing of original rainforest. Less intense reds indicate less dramatic change, such as the complete clearing of an already logged forest, or a transition from leafy crops to sparser pasture grasses. All major tropical forestsincluding those in the Americas, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Indonesiaare disappearing, mostly to make way for human food production, including livestock and crops. Although tropical deforestation meets some human needs, it also has profound, sometimes devastating, consequences, including social conflict and human rights abuses, extinction of plants and animals, and climate changechallenges that affect the whole world