Coachella & Salton, California

Land use in the Coachella valley, a major fruit growing region northwest of the Salton sea in California.

original image NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS,and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Another land-use image on "Earth as Art" shows dramatic deforestation in the Amazon Basin of Bolivia. Healthy vegetation appears bright red in the Bolivian image, demonstrating that the lands on which sit the Amazonian rainforest do not sustain agriculture well.