Google Earth Amazon Forest Loss

Click Google Earth Above to see Timelapse of Deforestration

We start our exploration of the world’s forests near San Julián, Bolivia. Take a look at the pie-shaped patterns that emerge. Piece by piece, the Amazon rainforest is being converted into villages and farms. Each square measures 5 kilometers (3 miles) per side. In the center a small village houses a community as they cut the forest and turn it into agricultural land.

In areas like this, much of the land is being used to raise soybeans, two-thirds of which are used as animal feed for the beef and pork industries. Soybean farming is one of the two biggest drivers of deforestation in the Amazon. Large swaths of forest in Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia have been cut for soybean farming.