The ''North American Environmental Atlas'' is an interactive mapping tool created through a partnership of government agencies in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, along with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a trilateral international organization created under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). By "mapping

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

's shared environment", the Atlas depicts environmental issues from a continental perspective.

Purpose

The North American Environmental Atlas builds on information created, gathered, and harmonized by government

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

s and

cartographer Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

s from

Natural Resources Canada Natural Resources Canada (NRCan; french: Ressources naturelles Canada; french: RNCan, label=none)Natural Resources Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Natural Resources (). is the depa ...

, the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

, and Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. Each country's contributing team works closely with their partner agencies in the other countries to ensure seamless and harmonized data. The Atlas provides a foundation to analyze the status of environmental conditions and identify significant trends across North America. It contains data on watersheds, terrestrial and marine

ecoregions An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

and protected areas, industrial

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

, human impact, and base layers including transportation and waterways. The Commission for Environmental Cooperation uses these geospatial data to identify priority areas to conserve

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

, track cross-border

, monitor

carbon emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...

across major

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

routes, and predict the spread of

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

Map Information

Information included in the Atlas includes accurate, seamless

map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

s, documentation, and

geospatial Geographic data and information is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to Earth (a geographic location or geographic position). It is also call ...

data that crosses political borders. This data is displayed as series of interactive map layers in an easy to use map viewer format. Most layers in the North American Environmental Atlas are at a scale of 1:1:10,000,000 or finer. The variety of layers in the Atlas continues to expand in order to support analysis of environmental conditions. Increasingly, data are being made compatible with tools such as

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

and ArcGis On-line/Arc Explorer. The entire collection of maps, data, and downloadable files is available for free online at th
CEC website

Ecoregions

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Number ! CEC Name ! American equivalent ! Canadian equivalent ! Mexican equivalent ! WWF equivalent , - , 1. , Arctic Cordillera , , " , , - , 2. ,

Tundra In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless moun ...

, , , , - , 3. ,

Taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...

, , , , - , 4. ,

Hudson Plains The Southern Hudson Bay taiga is a terrestrial ecoregion, as classified by the World Wildlife Fund, which extends along the southern coast of Hudson Bay and resides within the larger taiga biome. The region is nearly coterminous with the Hudso ...

, , , , - , 5. ,

Northern Forests Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

, , , , - , 6. ,

Northwestern Forested Mountains The Northwestern Forested Mountains is a Level I ecoregion of North America designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in its North American Environmental Atlas. Hydrology Most of the water in this ecoregion is fresh ...

, , , , - , 7. ,

Marine West Coast Forests The Marine West Coast Forest is a Level I ecoregion of North America designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in its North American Environmental Atlas. The region includes parts of Alaska, the Yukon, British Columbia, Wa ...

, , , , - , 8. ,

Eastern Temperate Forests The Eastern Temperate Forests is a Level I ecoregion of North America designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in its North American Environmental Atlas. The region covers much of the Eastern and Midwestern United States, th ...

, , , , - , 9. ,

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

, , Prairies Ecoregion , , - , 10. , North American Deserts , , , , - , 11. , Mediterranean California , , , , - , 12. , Southern Semi-Arid Highlands , , , , - , 13. , Temperate Sierras , , , , , - , 14. ,

Tropical Dry Forests The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

, , , , , , - , 15. , Tropical Humid Forests , , , , , -

External links

North American Environmental Atlas Online

Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía

US National Atlas
Trilateral relations of Canada, Mexico, and the United States Atlases Environment of North America Natural Resources Canada United States Geological Survey

Purpose

Map Information

Ecoregions

See also

External links