NASA's Earth Observatory has some amazing satellite photos of the deforestation of the Amazonian rainforest over the past 8 years. At the link, click on the years posted below the picture to see the progression.
The state of Rondônia in western Brazil is one of the most deforested parts of the Amazon. In the past three decades, clearing and degradation of the state’s original 208,000 square kilometers of forest (about 51.4 million acres, an area slightly smaller than the state of Kansas) has been rapid: 4,200 square kilometers cleared by 1978; 30,000 by 1988; and 53,300 by 1998. By 2003, an estimated 67,764 square kilometers of rainforest—an area larger than the state of West Virginia—had been cleared.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by liquidanbar.
http://www.forestcouncil.org/learn/aerial/index.html
Back in the early 1990s, some scientists compared aerial photos of Rondonia, Brazil with the Mt Hood National Forest in Oregon, and the result: Brazil looked downright verdant by comparison. The Mt Hood NF was chopped to bits.