Thought this was neat. I am surpised that there is not more dark green in the United States.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25292466...ramenumber/24/

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Yukon Cornelius

It makes perfect sense to me taking in account that the map was done in April. That time of year the breadbasket of the states is being plowed under to become dirt. If not, there might only be some early sprouts.

I'd like to see how it compares to other months when the corn is as high as an elephant's eye.

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Thanks Meg. I have to say that the US looks ok to me, but then again I'm not a farmer. Australia's the one that looks sad.
I didn't know what 'leaf area index' was actually. Here's the wiki link if there are any others in the same boat: Leaf Area Index.

EDIT: Oh wait, you said dark green, not just green. Well, from your link, dark green = thick forest. Don't think the US ever had that much forest, did it? I may be wrong.

I agree, I would like to see the middle of August in the US, but I was thinking more of the dark green that indicates thick forest canopies.

August would be Winter in Australia. They may have chose April because it would be either Spring or Fall?

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We'll have to outwit the fiend with our superior intelligence.
Yukon Cornelius

Your edit worked. Thanks for the link.
Yes, more then it is now. Florida's native trees the Slash Pine and Cabbage Palm are cut down for development like someone were mowing their lawn.

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We'll have to outwit the fiend with our superior intelligence.
Yukon Cornelius

Well, that depends. It used to have a lot more back east, and it used to have a lot more in the Northwest, at least, but the vast swathes of the center of the country never did. In fact, it used to be called the Great American Desert, and settlers hurried over it as quickly as possible to get to the supposedly more fertile lands out west.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

But, even in forested areas, at least in Ohio, in April we are just starting to have the leaves come out (and there is a big difference between the start of April and the end).

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All moderation in purple

Yes, the immature leaflets would not denote a canopied forest probably.

I lived in Pennsylvania for 18 years, a beautiful state with many state parks and deep forests. I would never have left if it were not for a job transfer.

Ohio was our neighbor, but unfortunately we never traveled there, could have taken a transfer to Lima, OH. at one time too. Declined because I was young and stupid, but I remember the transferees talking a lot about bowling?

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We'll have to outwit the fiend with our superior intelligence.
Yukon Cornelius

Found a close up for you from the NASA page.

Found an interesting diagram about changes in forest cover. I've placed it in my following post as it's quite big.

The diagram shows a trend reversal in deforestation in the Eastern U.S. coming into this century. This might be a general pattern. When the process of industrialisation is in full swing; as in China now, or in the U.S. at the turn of last century, the environment gets neglected. As the country becomes industrialised, some of the worst excesses of the development process are slowly removed.

These are of course historical estimates, and so should be taken with a pinch of salt, and the path each country takes is different; but maybe on a global scale, things will slowly improve. Let's hope.

The caption reads

Thanks, great link.

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We'll have to outwit the fiend with our superior intelligence.
Yukon Cornelius