Fragile Earth

China: Yellow river, May 1979 and May 2000. The river gets it name from the colour of the sediment it carries. As the river travels through northern central China it crosses an easily eroded plateau. When the river meets the sea the sediment is deposited, forming new land Photograph: UNEP

China: Dongting Hu lake on the Yangtse river, March 2002 and September 2002. In August that year, a large flood crest surged down the Yangtse into the lake and nearly inundated the local settlements. Fortunately for them the embankments held Photograph: Nasa and US/Japan Aster Science Team

Madagascar: Betsiboka river, September 2003 and March 2004. Deforestation has led to catastrophic erosion in northwestern Madagascar. The top image shows normal river levels. The lower picture shows widespread flooding and a massive red sediment plume that followed tropical cyclone Gafilo, which hit northern Madagascar on March 7 2004. Not only is the soil upstream eroding, but the sediment is silting up the estuary, causing further problems Photograph: Nasa

Bolivia: near Santa Cruz, June 1975 and May 2003. In 1975, the area adjacent to the Rio Grande ó Guapay river was one of rich, dense rainforest crossed by a handful of tracks. By 2003 the area had been transformed into a major agricultural area Photograph: UNEP

Kuwait: February 1991 and May 2001. In the course of the 1999 Gulf war, hundreds of oil wells were set on fire. The soot from the fires combined with sand and oil to leave a black layer of 'tarcrete' on almost 5% of the country's surface. This can be seen colouring the land surface in the highlighted area Photograph: Handout/EPA/Corbis

Turkey: Euphrates river, September 1976 and September 1999, after construction of the Atatürk Dam. Prior to the construction of the dam this was an arid and agriculturally poor region, as illustrated by the browness and small number of fields evident in the picture of the left. By 1999 the landscape had been transformed Photograph: UNEP

Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay: Iguaçu falls, February 1973 and May 2003. Some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world lie at the junction of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The isolation of this region gave rise to the unique Paranaense rainforest ecosystem, which supported thousands of unique species. The image on the left shows early evidence of deforestation. Thirty years later, right, the changes have been dramatic Photograph: UNEP

Lake Chad: 1972 and 1987. Lake Chad, which supplies water to Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria, was once one of the largest lakes in Africa. But extensive irrigation projects, the encroaching desert and an increasingly dry climate have caused it to shrink to 5% its former size Photograph: UNEP

Some climate change models predict that a two-degree rise in global temperatures would cause the Greenland icesheet to melt. This in turn would cause sea levels to rise by and estimated 7m and could change the shape of Florida, as shown by the second picture. The Everglades would disappear, the coastline would change dramatically, and major cities would be completely flooded.

Fragile Earth is published by HarperCollins. Photograph: Nasa/Modis