A new map by the University of Cincinnati illustrates one motivating force behind migrant caravans leaving Guatemala and Honduras to reach the United States.
UC geography professor Tomasz Stepinski created the new world map showing dramatic changes in land use over the last quarter century. Stepinski, a professor in UC's McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, turned high-resolution satellite images from the European Space Agency into one of the most detailed looks so far at how people are reshaping the planet.
"Right now there are caravans of people walking to the United States. Many of them are coming from Guatemala," Stepinski said.
News agencies such as The Guardian have called some of the Central American migrants "climate-change refugees" since many are fleeing successive years of crop failure. But Stepinski said climate change tells only part of the story. His map shows how Guatemala has seen widespread deforestation.
"And they've lost the forest because people use wood for fuel," Stepinski said. "It's one part of the refugee crisis."
The project was published in the International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation.
Stepinski's work in UC's Space Informatics Lab demonstrates the value that UC places on research as part of its strategic direction, Next Lives Here.
UC geography professor Tomasz Stepinski created the new world map showing dramatic changes in land use over the last quarter century. Stepinski, a professor in UC's McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, turned high-resolution satellite images from the European Space Agency into one of the most detailed looks so far at how people are reshaping the planet.
"Right now there are caravans of people walking to the United States. Many of them are coming from Guatemala," Stepinski said.
News agencies such as The Guardian have called some of the Central American migrants "climate-change refugees" since many are fleeing successive years of crop failure. But Stepinski said climate change tells only part of the story. His map shows how Guatemala has seen widespread deforestation.
"And they've lost the forest because people use wood for fuel," Stepinski said. "It's one part of the refugee crisis."
The project was published in the International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation.
Stepinski's work in UC's Space Informatics Lab demonstrates the value that UC places on research as part of its strategic direction, Next Lives Here.
A portion of UC geography professor Tomasz Stepinski's new world map shows changing landscapes in North and South America. White indicates little or no change. Darker shades indicate the highest rate of change in each category.
Graphic/Tomasz Stepinski/UC
The map illustrates how 22 percent of the Earth's habitable surface has been altered in measurable ways, primarily from forest to agriculture, between 1992 and 2015.
"It's very informative. There is nothing else like it," Stepinski said. "There are maps of forest loss but no maps showing everything."
The map tells a new story everywhere you look, from wetlands losses in the American Southeast to the devastation of the Aral Sea to deforestation in the tropics and temperate rainforests.
"Of course, it raises alarm bells. But they're not new ones," Stepinski said.
Graphic/Tomasz Stepinski/UC
The map illustrates how 22 percent of the Earth's habitable surface has been altered in measurable ways, primarily from forest to agriculture, between 1992 and 2015.
"It's very informative. There is nothing else like it," Stepinski said. "There are maps of forest loss but no maps showing everything."
The map tells a new story everywhere you look, from wetlands losses in the American Southeast to the devastation of the Aral Sea to deforestation in the tropics and temperate rainforests.
"Of course, it raises alarm bells. But they're not new ones," Stepinski said.
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