Land & Carbon Lab

Behind Global Nature Watch is one of the most comprehensive collections of open land and ecosystem data ever assembled. 🌍 Join the waitlist today to be among the first to experience Global Nature Watch: bit.ly/4oS2mA3 #GlobalNatureWatch

Since 2000, the world’s topsoils have lost an estimated 11 billion tonnes of carbon. Much of that loss is linked to land use changes such as deforestation. New soil carbon dynamics maps are helping show these changes. Learn more: bit.ly/4bjty6K

🌱 Soil is one of the planet’s largest carbon reservoirs but understanding how soil carbon is changing over time has remained a major challenge. New soil carbon dynamics maps are helping change that. Read: bit.ly/4bjty6K Explore the maps: bit.ly/4rACycl

Better insight into how trees are growing, powered by the most accurate global tree height data yet, can help unlock new sources of restoration finance. Learn more: bit.ly/4bwntTp Read the pre-print: go.wri.org/CgWEi5 @BezosEarthFund @WorldResources @AIatMeta

🚀 Our updated Global Tree Canopy Height map integrates @Meta’s open-source DINOv3 AI model, improving canopy height mapping across forest types & geographies. Learn more: bit.ly/4b7qNE0 Read the pre-print: go.wri.org/CgWEi5

Explore Version 2 of Global Tree Canopy Height, the 1-meter resolution global map that can detect individual trees, now upgraded for significantly better performance in tall and complex forests. Learn more: bit.ly/4b7qNE0 Read the pre-print: go.wri.org/CgWEi5

🌍 Which crops are driving ecosystem conversion beyond forests? Our new global analysis shows that crop expansion accounts for about 1/2 of non-forest ecosystem conversion across grasslands, wetlands and savannas. Learn more: bit.ly/3Oul57R

Global demand for agricultural commodities is taking an ever-bigger toll not just on forests but on the world’s other ecosystems, including grasslands, wetlands and savannas. 📖 Read more about what this means for sustainable supply chains: bit.ly/4bjT1Ng

🌾 Agriculture isn’t only replacing forests. Between 2005–2020, non-forest ecosystems were converted to annual crops and pasture at roughly four times the rate of forests, totaling an area nearly as large as Indonesia. 👉Read more: bit.ly/3Oul57R

Start with an area of interest, explore peer-reviewed data sets and ask a question (in over 100 languages). Global Nature Watch then returns maps, charts, statistics and written context backed by peer-reviewed data from Land & Carbon Lab and @globalforests.

From a plain language question to insights on the world’s changing landscapes in minutes, supported by maps, statistics and context. Access to Global Nature Watch is now completely open. Sign up today for immediate access ➡️ bit.ly/4oS2mA3

New maps developed by @Cornell in collaboration with Land & Carbon Lab highlight where emissions from crop farming are greatest and how they vary across countries and regions. 🚜🌾 So where are those emissions coming from most? ➡️ bit.ly/3OdBMnV

What’s the climate cost of growing crops? New global maps developed by @Cornell in collaboration w/ Land & Carbon Lab reveal that croplands emitted nearly 5% of GHG emissions in 2020, w/ crop farming accounting for 2.5 gigatons of CO₂e. ➡️ Learn more: bit.ly/3OdBMnV

🌍 Access to Global Nature Watch is now completely open. Sign up for immediate access! Explore Global Nature Watch right away by asking real questions about the places and ecosystems you care about. ➡️ Try a prompt and explore now: bit.ly/4oS2mA3

🚀 Access to Global Nature Watch is now completely open. Sign up today for immediate access: bit.ly/4oS2mA3 Global Nature Watch is an experimental, open, AI-powered system that combines research from Land & Carbon Lab & @globalforests in a simple, chat-style interface.

📗 The LEARN tool is now available on Crosswalk. State and local decision-makers can now access forest and tree-related greenhouse gas emissions and removals directly within the Crosswalk platform, alongside other core community-scale climate data. ➡️ bit.ly/4k8vfH1

🛰️ The Land Disturbance Alert Classification System classifies near-real time disturbance alerts by likely cause, classifying them into four categories: 🚜 Potential conversion 🌾 Cropland dynamics 🔥 Fire-related 🌊 Water-related ➡️ bit.ly/4oNkzPB

Climate change is reshaping landscapes around the world, and those shifts are feeding back into the climate. 🔄🌍🌡️🔥 📖 Read the full piece: bit.ly/3MdfmSo

In South America, our new Land Disturbance Alert Classification System (LDACS) is already identifying potential conversion hotspots, including where agricultural expansion is reshaping natural landscapes. ➡️ Learn more: bit.ly/4oNkzPB

📡 LDACS (Land Disturbance Alert Classification System) — our new tool for identifying the likely causes behind DIST-ALERT’s near-real-time disturbance alerts — provides new insight into how vegetation disturbances differ across continents. ➡️ bit.ly/4oNkzPB

The land–climate feedback loop is more apparent. 🔄🌍🌡️ Land-use change has long driven climate change, with deforestation & agricultural expansion releasing large amounts of GHGs. But satellite monitoring shows the relationship now runs both ways. 📖 bit.ly/3MdfmSo