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Global Forest Watch

Satellite-derived tree cover loss for anywhere on Earth, week by week, with alerts you can zoom in on until you are looking at one hillside.

Opens in a new tab. We do not control this site and it may have changed since we catalogued it.

How to get the most from it

Global Forest Watch sits in Live Earth Maps under Wander, filed as coffee break.

  • Set aside five to fifteen minutes and give it your proper attention.
  • Use a laptop or desktop computer — we file it as desktop only.
  • It works with the sound off, so it is fine on a train or in a quiet office.
  • No account needed — you can start without signing up.
  • Go in expecting something brainy and unsettling.

About this category: Live data drawn on a map: storms, earthquakes, lightning, shipping, wildlife. Open one and the planet stops being an abstraction.

Good for

  • Filling a coffee break properly
  • Giving your brain a workout
  • A little creeping unease
  • A quiet break at your desk
  • Trying it with zero commitment

Global Forest Watch: quick answers

Is Global Forest Watch free?

Yes. Global Forest Watch is free to use and needs no account.

Do I need an account to use Global Forest Watch?

No. You can use Global Forest Watch without signing up for anything.

Does Global Forest Watch work on a phone?

Not well. We file Global Forest Watch as desktop only, so open it on a laptop or desktop computer.

Is Global Forest Watch safe for work?

Yes, we file it as safe for work. It also works muted.

How long does Global Forest Watch take?

We file it as "Coffee break": Five to fifteen minutes of proper attention.

More in Live Earth Maps

All 14 in Live Earth Maps
  • Every lightning strike detected worldwide appears within seconds of the flash, triangulated by a volunteer network of home-built receivers.

  • Active fire and thermal anomaly detections from NASA satellites, updated within hours of each pass and quietly sobering at continental zoom.

  • The full NASA satellite archive as daily global mosaics, with a date slider you can drag back two decades to watch ice, dust and smoke move.

  • Raw Sentinel and Landsat imagery for anywhere on the planet, free, with band combinations that reveal crops, floods and old burn scars.

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