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Eyes on Earth Episode 69 - Thirty Years of Land Change in the U.S.

Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we learn how the landscapes of the U.S. have changed since 1985.

 

color photo of Roger Auch with the graphic for the USGS EROS podcast Eyes on Earth
Roger Auch

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Summary: Land change is a constant. Even land areas that see little major change can see disruptions from storms, heat waves, wildfires, or invasive species. But major changes aren't uncommon, either. Each year in the U.S., farm fields become tracts of suburban homes, wetlands become more permanent bodies of water, and shrublands burn to be replaced with grasslands. A team of researchers with the USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection initiative (LCMAP) recently released a study documenting land cover class change from 1985-2016. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk to the study’s lead author about what they learned about land change, and about how land change ties in to policy, economic trends, weather patterns and more.

Guest: Roger Auch, Research Physical Geographer, USGS EROS Center

Host: John Hult

Producer: John Hult

Release date: March 7, 2022

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