File:Clear Skies over the Amazon (MODIS 2020-06-23).jpg

English: On June 21, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image centered on the state of Amazonas, Brazil. In the east, the image shows a small amount of Pará State and a sliver of the state of Rondônia can be seen in the south.

The verdant, deep green of the Amazon rainforest stretches across most of the image, cut by the Amazon River across the north and, from east to west, the Maderia, Purus, and Juruá Rivers. The state of Amazonas spans 606,500 square miles, make it the largest state in Brazil. It is almost as large as the country of Iran and is four times larger than Germany. Occupying the greater part of the tropical forest zone of the Amazon River basin, the state is one of the most sparsely populated in Brazil, with most of the rural population made up of indigenous peoples. The capital, Manaus, sits in the northeast of the image and is the largest city in the Amazon region.

Smoke hangs over the forest in the north, suggestive of either wildfire or clearing of forest using fire. In the southeast of Amazonas state and in Rondônia, clear cutting of the forest is very obvious. Deforestation threatens the irreplaceable Amazon rainforest, as does encroaching population. The state of Amazonas has set aside large portions of its land in parks, and currently retains 96 percent of its rainforest.