The Green Marble

NOAA has released an interactive map of the Earth's vegetation. The Green Vegetation map was created using data from the VIIRS sensor aboard the NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite.

The dark greenest areas on the map are the locations with the lushest vegetation. The map uses a pale color for the Earth's oceans. I'm guessing this is because if 75% of the planet was colored blue this would detract from the vegetation being highlighted on the map.

You can read more about the vegetation data and how the map was created on the NOAA website.