Mapping Our Shared Environment
The North American Environmental Atlas combines and harmonizes geospatial data from Canada, Mexico and the United States to allow for a continental and regional perspective on environmental issues that cross boundaries. It is a unique tool to analyze and raise awareness of our shared environment and ecosystems across the continent, to demonstrate their value, and to help us see what needs to be done to protect them.
The dozens of map layers of the Atlas are unique in that they harmonize geographic information across North America’s political boundaries. By comparing these map layers, we can better understand and quantify critical trends and interrelationships at the North American level.
Explore this interactive story for a better understanding of how the Atlas can be useful to you.
Explore more than one thousand publications and articles that utilized data from the North American Environmental Atlas.
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Keywords
Map Type
Map Files
Elevation, 2023
2023
Ecoregions, Land Cover
The 250m elevation map of North America illustrates the region's terrain in relation to mean sea level, utilizing elevation data sourced from the Global Multi-resolution Terrain Elevation Data 2010 (GMTED2010). This dataset supersedes its predecessor, the 1-km elevation dataset released by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in 2007, offering heightened topographic detail while maintaining a manageable file size at the North American level.
North American Lakes and Rivers, 2023
2023
Water
This North American Environmental Atlas dataset displays the coastline, linear hydrographic features (major rivers, streams, and canals), and area hydrographic features (major lakes and reservoirs) of North America at a reference spatial scale of 1:1,000,000.
Land Cover Change 30m, 2015-2020 (Landsat)
2023
Land Cover
This map demonstrates land cover change between 2015 and 2020 in North America at a spatial resolution of 30 meters.
North American Land Cover, 2020 (Landsat, 30m)
2023
Land Cover
This map of North American land cover provides a harmonized view of the physical cover of Earth’s surface across the continent at a spatial resolution of 30 meters, based on Landsat satellite imagery for Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Political Boundaries, 2021
2022
Humans
This reference map from the North American Environmental Atlas depicts political entities in North America, with jurisdictional areas represented as polygons and political boundaries, including international boundaries, and provincial, state, or territory boundaries, as lines.
Population Density, 2020
2022
Humans
This map shows the population density of North America for the year 2020 in number of people per square kilometer within 2.5 arc-minute pixels.
North American Forests, 2022
2022
Ecoregions
The North American Forest map shows the distribution of eighteen different primary ecological zones pertaining to forest systems within Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Terrestrial Ecoregions: Level I
2021
Ecoregions
Ecological regions are areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources.
Terrestrial Ecoregions: Level II
2021
Ecoregions
Ecological regions are areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources.
Climate Zones of North America
2021
Climate, Ecoregions
The North American Climate Zones map shows the distribution of climate types across Canada, Mexico, and the United States based on the Köppen-Geiger climate classification.
North American Protected Areas, 2021
2021
Biodiversity, Protected Areas
The new map of North American Protected Areas is an update of the map published in 2017 by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
Terrestrial Ecoregions: Level III
2021
Ecoregions
Ecological regions are areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources.
Tools
Map Viewer
The North American Environmental Atlas map viewer provides access to several data layers, including terrestrial and marine ecosystems as well as human influence.
MapMonday
From tracking Uber orders in Montreal to understanding the effect of coastal farming activity in Sinaloa, Mexico– maps help us navigate and understand the world around us.
North American Land Change Monitoring System
A collaborative initiative between Canada, Mexico, and the United States to monitor land cover - the observed physical cover on the surface of the Earth - and its change over time.
Publications
Marine Ecoregions of North America
A book that celebrates the richness and wealth of our region’s common ocean and coastal...
Because our environment does not end at the border, the CEC has developed over the last 22 years a unique framework...
Integrated Modeling and Assessment of North American Forest Carbon Dynamics Technical Report
Tools for monitoring, reporting and projecting forest greenhouse gas emissions and removals
GIS Updates
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