Pulling a Global Fire Alarm

A RECORD AMOUNT of the world’s tree cover vanished last year, according to data collected by UMD, and the greatest destruction occurred in old-growth tropical forests, which fell at a head-spinning rate equal to 18 soccer fields per minute.

These dense, ecologically precious areas produce much of the oxygen we breathe, provide homes to still-mysterious creatures and potentially harbor plants that could contribute to cures for cancer or other diseases.

“There are more species we haven’t discovered in those forests than species we have,” says geographical sciences Professor Matt Hansen, who together with Research Scientist Peter Potapov leads the university’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) Lab. With help from team members Svetlana Turubanova and Alexandra Tyukavina, the lab partnered with the World Resources Institute for a May report showing a surge in fires both in the tropics and at high latitudes.

The GLAD Lab, which has released tree loss data yearly since 2013, has become a central resource in the fight to save these crucial resources, menaced from the Amazon to the Congo Basin by drought, rising temperatures and economic pressures.