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| 2000 |
These satellite photos show the difference in the Amazon rainforest over the course of nine years. The difference is shocking and plain to see. The pictures were found on NASA's website: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/deforestation.php
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| 2009 |
- Rainforests once covered 14% Earth. They now only cover 6% of the planet. It is feared that they will disappear completely in just 40 years time.
- Over the course of the past 200 years the area of land the rainforest occupying 1,500 million hectares to less than 800 million hectares. A hectare is equivalent to the area covered by two football fields.
- It is believed that one and one half acres of rainforest is being destroyed every second.
- Currently about 6 million hectares are destroyed each year.
- More than 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed.
- It is estimated that 137 species of plants, animals, and microorganisms every day. That adds up to a shocking 50,000 species a year.
Country | Area of Country (sq km) | Original Forest Cover (sq km) | Present Forest Cover (sq km) | Annual Rate of Deforestation (sq km) |
| Bolivia | 1,098,581 | 90,000 | 45,000 | 1,500 |
| Brazil | 8,511,960 | 2,860,000 | 1,800,000 | 50,000 |
| Columbia | 1,138,891 | 700,000 | 180,000 | 6,500 |
| Ecuador | 270,670 | 132,000 | 44,000 | 3,000 |
| Philippines | 299,400 | 250,000 | 8,000 | 2,700 |
Tropical rainforest deforestation rates (RAN, 1999).
