If youve got as little as 30 seconds and a decent internet connection, you can help combat the deforestation of the Amazon .

You dont have to be a climate scientist, you dont have to be a data scientist, you just have to be a citizen that is concerned about the issue of deforestation, said Elliot Inman, a researcher at systems analysis company SAS, which created an app that uses humans sharp eyes to teach computers what deforestation looks like.

Some 15% of the Amazon, the worlds largest rainforest and a crucial carbon repository, has been cut or burned down. Around two-thirds of the Amazon lie within Brazils borders, where almost 157 square miles of forest were cleared in April alone. In addition to storing billions of tons of carbon, the Amazon is home to tens of millions of people and some 10% of the Earths biodiversity .

Scientists are warning of an impending tipping point beyond which the Amazon will be irreparably transformed.

To stem the destruction, it is necessary to track where and when its happening. To that end, SAS formed a nonprofit partnership with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, or IIASA, a research institution based in Austria, to build an artificial intelligence model that can recognize signs of deforestation. That data can be used to alert governments and conservation organizations where intervention is needed and to inform policies that protect vital ecosystems. It may even one day predict where deforestation is likely to happen next.