Satellites reveal Amazon rainforest losing 17% of its original size

Satellite imagery shows the Amazon rainforest has shrunk by 17% since widespread clearing began, a loss equivalent to a vast carbon sink and biodiversity hotspot. This critical forest, once spanning 6.7 million square kilometers, influences global climate by storing carbon and regulating rainfall. Data from Brazil's INPE, using satellites like Landsat since the 1980s, highlights how activities like soy farming, cattle ranching, and mining drive this destruction.