This is a NOAA AVHRR image of how the Australian continent looked at 1430 hours in mid-September 1991. This day was chosen because the cloud cover was small (for spring) and the contrast between the agricultural and natural landcover types would be high. The 6% of the land that has been converted to pastures and crops is very obvious, stretching across the southern part of the continent and up into central Queensland. The cleared croplands of the SW corner of Western Australia are also obvious. In fact it looks more like 15%, but it is a figure no one accurately knows, which is amazing in a country that shows great environmental concern. Whatever the figure, the agricultural landcover apparent in this image is of immense value to everyone of us. We cannot live without it!