Logging damage in Amazon underestimated, satellites show
The area of land cleared of trees in the Amazon is twice the estimate, according to a new study of the environmental damage from previously undetected logging.
Satellites record clear cuts, where all the trees on a swath of land are removed to make room for farming or grazing.
“Selective logging,” or the loss of individual trees from a forest, wasn’t detected as deforestation because satellites were unable to penetrate the upper forest canopy.
Using new high-resolution satellite imaging techniques, researchers at the Carnegie Institution of Washington have detected openings in the forest canopy down to one tree.
CBC News: Logging damage in Amazon underestimated, satellites show