NASA has unveiled its new Multi-Spectral Drought Indexer (MSDI), improving existing technology for measuring absorption and reflection of sunlight by plants in order to make maps of unprecedented detail. The data, which come from satellites, are translated by researchers into monthly maps of vegetation color changes, thus indicating how much soil moisture is available to plants. The existing...

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) works "to document and expose the hazards of the high-tech industry and to promote environmental and economic sustainability and accountability in the electronics industry, the fastest growing manufacturing sector in the world." To those ends, the SVTC Website offers three interactive Eco Maps showing Toxic Chemical Point Sources, Cumulative Exposure...

This site presents some of the work produced by the UN's mapping and GIS specialists. Two primary map collections are offered at the site in .pdf format: general maps (over 100) and deployment maps of peacekeeping missions. Both can be browsed via a pull-down menu or on separate pages via the toolbar at the top of the main page. The general maps page organizes maps by region, while the...

More and more people are beginning to return the sometimes neglected field of geography to understand the world of environmental change (and degradation). In the process, the skills of highly trained cartographers and geographic information specialists are in great demand. Organized as an official United Nations Environment Programme centre, the GRID-Arendal group provides public policy officials,...