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North America Environmental Atlas Online

by Ali on February 25th, 2008

A new online information tool from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is an interesting interactive that shows North American environmental issues.

The North American Environmental Atlas brings together maps, data, interactive map layers, and links to other related materials.

The maps outline geographical features like railways, roads, cities, lakes and rivers. Different layers relay visuals for environmental issues like industrial pollutants, conservation areas, installed renewable energy and population density.

New map layers, including protected areas, marine ecoregions, and land cover, are currently under development and will be added to the North American Environmental Atlas in the coming months. The CEC is also exploring mapping and information access methods for use with Google Earth.

While looking at the industrial pollutants layer, the picture above, I thought about the pollution issues in the Great Lakes region. I’ve spent considerable time down in Louisiana’s Chemical Corridor, which barely stands out on this map, and in person it’s overwhelming. I’m aware of many issues around the Great Lakes, an area that is sometimes referred to as the other Cancer Alley, but never investigated in person. This map layer really makes those issues apparent. Thoughts from Great Lakes region readers?

The atlas is available at: http://www.cec.org/naatlas.

Via TreeHugger

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POSTED IN: Pollution