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 to ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, along with the

Commission for Environmental Cooperation The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC; es, Comisión para la Cooperación Ambiental; french: Commission de coopération environnementale) was established by Canada, Mexico, and the United States to implement the North American Agr ...

, a trilateral international organization created under the

North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation The North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) is an environmental agreement between the United States of America, Canada and Mexico as a side-treaty of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The agreement came into effect J ...

(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 th ...

'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 research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosop ...

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 ...

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 dep ...

, 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, th ...

, 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'') ...

, 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 l ...

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, pipelin ...

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 adv ...

Map Information

Information included in the Atlas includes accurate, seamless maps, documentation, and geospatial 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 The Arctic Cordillera is a terrestrial ecozone in northern Canada characterized by a vast, deeply dissected chain of mountain ranges extending along the northeastern flank of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from Ellesmere Island to the northea ...

, , " , , - , 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 mou ...

, , , , - , 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, sp ...

, , , , - , 4. , Hudson Plains , , , , - , 5. , Northern Forests , , , , - , 6. , Northwestern Forested Mountains , , , , - , 7. , Marine West Coast Forests , , , , - , 8. , Eastern Temperate Forests , , , , - , 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, a ...

, , 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