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Amazon GIS 亚马逊地理信息系统

In the Amazon, there's a growing human population in a region that also contains 30% of Earth's total plants and animals. Learn how scientists have put together an Internet window to the Amazon -- today on Earth and Sky.

JB: This is Earth and Sky, continuing to speak with Thomas Lovejoy, president of the Heinz Center for Science, Economics and the Environment -- about changes in the Amazon.

Thomas Lovejoy: Basically, today the Amazon is inhabited by probably ten times as many non-indigenous people as it was 25 years ago. And roads are being built, pipelines are being built for natural gas or oil, hydroelectric projects are being constructed, transmission lines are being constructed . . .

JB: Lovejoy and his colleagues have pulled together a wealth of information about impacts on the Amazon -- to help set conservation priorities. Their Geographical Information System is continuously updated. You can find it on the Internet at AmazonGIS.org.

Thomas Lovejoy: ... because it is accessible on the world wide web, it virtually makes this information available to anybody who's interested, and in my view, really empowers civil society, in this case in the Amazon, to really know the whole picture of what's going on.

JB: For more about what's going on in the Amazon, come to today's show at earthsky.org. Special thanks to the U.S. Forest Service and to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation - supporting the conservation of native fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats. I'm Joel Block for Earth and Sky.