English: Outside of Bogota, Colombia is one of the country's two major flower growing areas. Started in 1970, Colombia's cut flower industry now provides about 70% of the US market, and ships over $1 billion in blooms annually. The explosive growth of hot-house flowers has brought with it unplanned negative consequences: increased use of limited ground water resources, shared by the city of Bogota; and increased exposure of workers to fungicides and pesticides. This is counterbalanced by the infusion of cash into the Colombian economy and creation of jobs in the industry. The image covers an area of 21 x 21 km, was acquired on February 7, 2007, and is located near 4.7 degrees north latitude, 74.3 degrees west longitude.