Environment

The Last of the Wild
The Last of the Wild “depicts human influence on terrestrial ecosystems using data sets compiled on or around 2000.” Sample maps showing the human footprint on the world and continental level are available; the data can be downloaded as well. Via La Cartoteca. Previously: Mapping the Human Impact on…   Read more →
Posted on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 8:22 AM
Categories: Environment
1979 California Water Atlas Now Online
The David Rumsey Map Collection announces the online availability of The California Water Atlas, “a monument of 20th century cartographic publishing.” When the atlas came out in 1979, it got rave reviews from both historians and scientists. Charles Wollenberg, writing in the California Historical Quarterly, called it “a very…   Read more →
Posted on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 7:12 PM
Categories: Books, Environment
Treehugger’s 22 Most Amazing Maps
Treehugger’s 22 Most Amazing Maps Changing How We See the World is a collection of environmental maps they saw and liked over the past year. “The year 2009 brought us some incredible maps, illustrating things like how the earth’s carbon cycle works which then unveiled new understanding about how carbon…   Read more →
Posted on Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 5:23 PM
Categories: Environment
The Environmental Atlas of Europe
The Environmental Atlas of Europe was announced at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen today (via EuroSpaceAgency). The Atlas provides multimedia stories about climate change based on a Bing Maps interface (Silverlight required); as an artifact of cartography, there’s not much more here than an average map mashup. Press…   Read more →
Posted on Monday, December 14, 2009 at 7:53 PM
Categories: Environment
Climate Change Changes Maps
Still on climate change, this Aftonbladet article (in Swedish) looks at how the changing climate has forced maps to change — mostly in terms of shifting coastlines and new (and disappearing) islands. Also via the Collins Map Blog (they were interviewed for the article)….   Read more →
Posted on Monday, December 14, 2009 at 7:05 PM
Categories: Environment
A Giant Globe at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference
Also at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, a 20-metre globe onto which climate-related information is being projected. Here’s a photo. Via Collins Maps Blog….   Read more →
Posted on Monday, December 14, 2009 at 3:45 PM
Categories: Environment, Globes
Cool Globes
Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet is a travelling public art exhibit about global warming that for some reason is in Copenhagen right now. The exhibit “will feature over 25 super-sized Cool Globes, each conveying a different message about what ordinary citizens can do to combat global…   Read more →
Posted on Thursday, December 10, 2009 at 6:45 AM
Categories: Art, Environment, Exhibitions, Globes
Global Temperature Projections
A short animation from the Met Office Hadley Centre that shows “the changes in temperature across the globe, relative to pre-industrial levels, under two different emissions scenarios. The first is with emissions continuing to increase through the century. The second is with emissions declining through the century. By the…   Read more →
Posted on Monday, December 7, 2009 at 9:45 AM
Categories: Environment, Video
Interactive Map Shows the Impact of Global Warming
The Guardian reports on the British government’s release of an interactive map that shows the impact of a four-degree rise in average global temperatures. “It shows that the rise will not evenly be spread across the globe, with temperature rises much larger than 4C in high latitudes such as…   Read more →
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Posted on Friday, October 23, 2009 at 8:50 AM
Categories: Environment
Mapping Ice Sheet Thinning
Maps compiled from data from NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) reveal the extent of ice sheet thinning in Antarctica and Greenland. ICESat’s precise laser altimetry instrument, launched in 2003, has provided a high-density web of elevation measurements repeated year after year across the Greenland and Antarctic…   Read more →
Posted on Monday, September 28, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Categories: Environment, Satellite & Aerial
Wetland Loss Mapped in Louisiana
A project is under way to map the land loss in Louisiana’s wetlands, the Daily Comet reports. The wetlands were last mapped in 1988 under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Center’s National Wetland Inventory; with several significant hurricanes since then, and that, coupled with the usual annual loss rate, means…   Read more →
Posted on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 6:58 PM
Categories: Environment
A New Map of Standardized Terrestrial Ecosystems
The USGS has released a map of the lower 48 United States showing its “standardized” terrestrial ecosystems. An interactive version is online here. The methodology behind the map is discussed in this article. From the press release: Featuring higher resolution, this new map shows the distribution of 419 meso-scale…   Read more →
Posted on Saturday, August 1, 2009 at 5:39 PM
Categories: Earth Sciences, Environment
Declassified Satellite Images Show Loss of Arctic Sea Ice
Earlier this month, previously classified images showing the dramatic retreat of Arctic sea ice were released by the U.S. government. The one-metre-resolution images were taken by spy satellites on behalf of scientists studying climate change who were looking for images of Arctic sea ice during the summer, but the…   Read more →
Posted on Friday, July 31, 2009 at 7:05 PM
Categories: Environment, Satellite & Aerial
Real-Time Pollution Maps in Cambridge
Cambridge Mobile Urban Sensing equips volunteer pedestrians and cyclists with pollution sensors linked via Bluetooth to mobile phones; the result is a real-time map of Cambridge’s air quality — or at least the air quality along the routes the volunteers travelled. The Guardian has more on the project and…   Read more →
Posted on Sunday, June 28, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Categories: Environment
Global Warming Art
A map produced by Global Warming Art was featured on NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day earlier this week. Global Warming Art has a number of maps and other graphics illustrating the effects of climate change, most of which are freely available….   Read more →
Posted on Friday, April 24, 2009 at 1:22 PM
Categories: Environment
‘Cartography from a Kayak’
University of Tennessee researchers are collaborating with the National Park Service to map the streams of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and the Obed Wild and Scenic River, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. Their goal is to identify habitat for freshwater mussels and fish, and it…   Read more →
Posted on Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 7:02 PM
Categories: Environment, Surveying
Historical Ecology
An interesting article in Friday’s San Francisco Chronicle profiling historical ecologist Robin Grossinger, who uses old maps, photos and aerial photos to reconstruct what the landscape was like in the past. More at the Historical Ecology section of the San Francisco Estuary Institute, where Grossinger works. Via GeoCarta….   Read more →
Posted on Sunday, March 29, 2009 at 9:54 PM
Categories: Environment
IPCC Climate Change Map Criticized
Two researchers are criticizing a map found in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2007 report because it “failed to follow several cartographic principles and effectively display information, despite its important content.” In their view, the map misleads because it doesn’t use an equal-area projection, uses different colours instead…   Read more →
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Posted on Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 1:02 PM
Categories: Cartography, Environment
San Francisco Solar Map
The San Francisco Solar Map is a part of the city’s goal to have 10,000 roofs equipped with solar panels by 2012; it maps current solar installations and provides information for those interested in installing solar panels. Via Vector One; more information at Government Technology….   Read more →
Posted on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 9:21 PM
Categories: Energy & Resources, Environment, San Francisco
New York Ocean and Great Lakes Atlas
The New York Ocean and Great Lakes Atlas, an online atlas of the state’s water resources, was announced yesterday. From the press release: “Currently, more than 200 data sets that contain information on such resources as storm drains, wetland boundaries, underwater vegetation, park locations, and fisheries are available through the…   Read more →
Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 9:51 AM
Categories: Environment, GIS
B.C. Geodata Available Online, Through Google Earth
As reported last year, the provincial government of British Columbia is making its geographic databases available online and via Google Earth. The announcement was made last Friday; the Vancouver Sun has coverage. Via, and more at, AnyGeo….   Read more →
Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 4:25 PM
Categories: Energy & Resources, Environment, GIS, Google Earth
Collaborative Mapping in Arizona and Vancouver
Speaking of collaborative mapping projects, here are a couple of links: Richard Eriksson reports on a meeting of the Vancouver Public Space Network’s Mapping and Wayfinding group. “They are a group of mapping enthusiasts who want to organize collaboratively mapping Vancouver’s public spaces and have some interesting ideas on how…   Read more →
Posted on Friday, April 25, 2008 at 7:42 PM
Categories: Environment, Vancouver
Map of U.S. Carbon Emissions
The Vulcan Project, which quantifies North American carbon dioxide emissions, has released maps that shows U.S. CO2 emissions at 100-kilometre resolution — far more detailed than previous efforts. The maps are also updated more frequently. Their most notable finding is that the southeastern U.S.’s carbon footprint is bigger than…   Read more →
Posted on Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at 7:59 PM
Categories: Environment
Mapping the Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems
A map of the human impact on global marine ecosystems has been published in today’s issue of Science; it reveals that only four percent of the world’s oceans have not been affected by human activity. Matt Perry was part of the research team: “To summarize, we found that the…   Read more →
Posted on Friday, February 15, 2008 at 9:29 PM
Categories: Earth Sciences, Environment
12th Edition of Times Comprehensive Atlas Published
The Times has an article on the new — 12th — edition of the Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, which was released yesterday. The article discusses the changes that had to be made since the previous edition, especially those that are a result of global warming — lakes like…   Read more →
Posted on Tuesday, September 4, 2007 at 12:34 PM
Categories: Books, Environment
International Polar Year Maps
The Canadian International Polar Year Internet Map Server maps the research stations, projects and other information associated with the the International Polar Year. The map interface takes a bit of time to load; the data are available as separate downloads. Via Science Library Pad….   Read more →
Posted on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 1:37 PM
Categories: Environment, GIS
Interesting Fishery Maps, Awful Interface
It’s a pity that the Atlas of Tuna and Billfish Catches, from the UN’s Fish and Agriculture Organization, has such a terrible user interface — it’s a textbook case of mystery meat navigation — but, if you can stomach navigating your way through, there are some interesting maps showing the…   Read more →
Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 8:40 AM
Categories: Environment
EWG U.S. Mining Database
There has been an explosion in mining claims lately; the Environmental Working Group’s U.S. Mining Database uses the Google Maps API to show active mines and claims on federal lands in the western United States. (There’s also a Google Earth option.) My, there are a lot of them. Using satellite…   Read more →
Posted on Sunday, December 17, 2006 at 7:04 PM
Categories: Energy & Resources, Environment, Google Earth, Hacks & Mashups, Satellite & Aerial
Tranquility Maps
The Campaign to Protect Rural England has released tranquility maps of England that depict the loss of natural landscapes to urban sprawl. BBC News coverage. Of course, tranquility is a value judgment, not a synonym for rural life. Ed Parsons looks behind the map. Via Map GIS News Blog…   Read more →
Posted on Monday, October 23, 2006 at 9:03 PM
Categories: Environment
Conservation GeoPortal
The Conservation GeoPortal is an index of conservation maps and GIS datasets. No maps or data is available on the site itself, just searchable metadata; it points to stuff elsewhere online. More here. Via Maps-L….   Read more →
Posted on Wednesday, September 27, 2006 at 1:36 PM
Categories: Environment, GIS
UN Atlas Presented via Google Maps
The UN Environment Programme’s atlas, One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment, was announced in June 2005 and has been available as a free download since at least last February. (You can always buy the book, of course.) Now it’s available in online, with a Google Maps-based interface…   Read more →
Posted on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 at 9:25 AM
Categories: Books, Environment, Hacks & Mashups, Satellite & Aerial
Breathing Earth
Breathing Earth is a Flash-based simulation that “displays the carbon dioxide emission levels of every country in the world, as well as their birth and death rates — all in real time.” Hover over each country for specific data. Via Cartography….   Read more →
Posted on Tuesday, September 12, 2006 at 9:31 PM
Categories: Environment
Altair: Using Unmanned Aircraft to Map Forest Fires
The start of a new joint NASA-Forest Service program to provide real-time maps of forest fires has been delayed until next week, CNet reports, which gives us a look at the program, which supplements satellite-based data with sensor data collected by Altair unmanned aircraft — a variant of the military…   Read more →
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Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2006 at 8:38 AM
Categories: Environment
EFFIS
Add the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) to your list of fire mapping sites: the default view shows the forest fire risk, but there are other layers that show previously burned areas. Via La Cartoteca and Vector One. See previous entry: Fire!…   Read more →
Posted on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 at 9:02 AM
Categories: Environment
Fire!
BLDGBLOG’s been having fun with images from NASA’s Earth Observatory again (see previous entry), linking to this collection of MODIS images of Africa during 2005, showing the occurrence of fires deliberately set by people as part of their agricultural cycle. The colours used on the choropleth layer are a…   Read more →
Posted on Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 8:14 PM
Categories: Earth Sciences, Energy & Resources, Environment, Satellite & Aerial
Earthshots
Earthshots: Satellite Images of Environmental Change is a collection of Landsat images of certain locations from different years (usually from 1972 to 2000) that show the changes to agriculture, urbanization and other activities in Landsat’s false-colour imagery, from the Ogallala Aquifer to the Aral Sea. A little dated — the…   Read more →
Posted on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 5:35 PM
Categories: Environment, Satellite & Aerial
Great Lakes Ice Atlas
The Great Lakes Ice Atlas is a production of NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory; it tracks the winter ice cover of the Great Lakes from 1973 to 2002, usually every few days to a week. Datasets are also available, but some general maps, like the one at right, can…   Read more →
Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 at 10:22 AM
Categories: Environment
Alaska’s North Slope
The May 2006 issue of National Geographic had an article on Alaska’s North Slope that featured a four-page map detailing land use, wildlife and offshore oil leases; that map is now available online in an interactive version. Via Slashgeo….   Read more →
Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 at 6:52 PM
Categories: Environment
Travel Matters Emissions Maps
Travel Matters has put together maps of Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco that show overall and per-capita CO2 emissions. The point is that overall emissions are higher in cities, but lower per capita, because of more efficient transportation options available (e.g. public transit). Via WorldChanging….   Read more →
Posted on Sunday, May 7, 2006 at 1:18 PM
Categories: Cities, Environment
Green Maps Founder Interviewed
Grist interviews Wendy Brawer, who heads, and was in 1995 one of the founders of, the Green Map system. One of the most recent green maps, highlighted by this interview, is the Powerful Green Map of New York City, which highlights the city’s energy footprint. Via Cartography. See previous entries:…   Read more →
Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 at 3:49 PM
Categories: Environment
Triangulations: March 10
(I’m going to try calling these link roundups “Triangulations” and see how that goes.) Via GPS Tracklog, the difference between Garmin’s and Magellan’s topo maps. The National Geographic Society is planning a “mega-map” of the Sonoran Desert region. “It will zero in on 200 to 300 special sites nominated by…   Read more →
Posted on Friday, March 10, 2006 at 6:36 AM
Categories: Environment, GPS, Hacks & Mashups, Macintosh, Topo Maps & Trails, Triangulations (Links)
One Planet, Many People Redux
The UN atlas One Planet, Many People has been making the rounds of the mapping blogosphere lately — see, for example, Very Spatial and Le Petit Blog Cartographique — probably due to it being featured on the Landsat project news site last month. I posted about it last June. Since…   Read more →
Posted on Saturday, February 4, 2006 at 1:35 PM
Categories: Books, Environment, Satellite & Aerial
Environment Map Roundup
A few links to maps on environmental (and related) subjects. A project by Dutch scientists to measure European air pollution using NASA’s Aura satellite. Some pages in Dutch. Via Treehugger. The Center for Sustainability and the Global Enviroment has a set of maps and datasets, including an Atlas of the…   Read more →
Posted on Monday, December 19, 2005 at 9:55 AM
Categories: Demography, Environment, Weather & Climate
PEI Wind Atlas
Cute little Canadian province Prince Edward Island has released an online wind atlas, the CBC reports. The atlas, in PDF and ALOV-based interactive versions, maps potential wind energy — i.e., potential locations for wind turbines. See previous entry: Wind Energy Atlases….   Read more →
Posted on Thursday, October 13, 2005 at 10:24 PM
Categories: Energy & Resources, Environment, Weather & Climate
Great Apes Atlas
The World Atlas of Great Apes and Their Conservation, which I believe was launched yesterday, “provides a comprehensive overview of what is currently known about all six species of great apes — chimpanzee, bonobo, Sumatran orangutan, Bornean orangutan, eastern gorilla, and western gorilla.” In addition to being available for purchase…   Read more →
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Posted on Friday, September 2, 2005 at 9:09 AM
Categories: Books, Environment
Protected Forest Logged, Mapping Error to Blame
A protected forest in Tasmania was accidentally logged due to a mapping error, ABC News (Australia) reports. Via Cartography; see also GeoCarta. Update, 10:40 PM: From ABC News, “Forestry Tasmania general manager Kim Creek says the error was caused by incorrect boundary markings on a map.” Via GeoCarta….   Read more →
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Posted on Sunday, August 28, 2005 at 8:16 AM
Categories: Energy & Resources, Environment, Mapping Errors
Sprol
Sprol is a relatively new blog that uses satellite imagery to draw attention to the effects of environmental predation. Via MetaFilter….   Read more →
Posted on Wednesday, June 29, 2005 at 4:34 PM
Categories: Blogs, Environment, Satellite & Aerial
Ingo Günther’s Globes
World Processor showcases the globes of Ingo Günther, which depict social, environmental and political data: everything from life expectancy to pollution to wealth distribution. Via WorldChanging….   Read more →
Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 at 9:17 PM
Categories: Environment, Globes
One Planet, Many People
A new atlas announced Saturday by the UN, titled One Planet, Many People, shows the impact of the last 30 years of human development in a dramatic way, by showing before and after satellite photography of various locations. Sample images can be found here. News coverage from the BBC and…   Read more →
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Posted on Monday, June 6, 2005 at 11:35 PM
Categories: Books, Environment, Satellite & Aerial
Global Wind Map
Further to my previous post on wind atlases, two Stanford University researchers have compiled a global wind map that charts wind energy potential worldwide. Both Wired News and WorldChanging have details and copies of the map….   Read more →
Posted on Monday, May 23, 2005 at 9:36 PM
Categories: Environment, Weather & Climate
Wind Energy Atlases
A wind energy atlas maps wind energy potential: it shows the average velocity and power of a given area, which is useful for people or companies interested in setting up wind generators. Here are the Canadian Wind Energy Atlas and the Wind Energy Resource Atlas of the United States, from…   Read more →
Posted on Monday, May 2, 2005 at 8:43 AM
Categories: Environment, Weather & Climate
Sauchie’s Green Map
Green maps come to Sauchie, The Herald reports; it’s the first green map in Scotland. So what is lurking below the surface in Sauchie? Enid Trevett, 46, a local youth worker, points out a few features likely to be included in the map – a 150-year-old oak tree and a…   Read more →
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Posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 at 5:21 PM
Categories: Environment
Green Maps
The Green Map system has been around for 10 years. Essentially, it’s a framework for locally produced environmental maps, the focus of which is a set of icons that denote points of ecological interest. The site does not host maps per se, but links to a lot of them. Though…   Read more →
Posted on Thursday, April 14, 2005 at 10:37 PM
Categories: Environment

Note: Entries from 2003 were not categorized and will not appear in the category archives. Please consult the monthly archives.