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.
Map Files
Humans, Transportation
Airports, 2026
This map shows the main airports across the North American region that have either an...
2026
Industrial facilities reporting to Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR) in North America, 2023
This map shows the locations of about 23,000 industrial facilities in North America that reported...
2026
Precipitation (1981–2010) – Monthly
The Monthly Precipitation dataset consists of 12 raster files, one for each month, representing total...
2026
Precipitation (1981–2010) – Annual
The annual precipitation raster layers available in the North American Environmental Atlas represent key climatological...
2026
Temperature (1981–2010) – Annual
The annual temperature raster layers available in the North American Environmental Atlas represent key climatological...
2026
Temperature (1981–2010) – Monthly
The Monthly Mean Temperature dataset consists of 12 raster files, one for each month, representing...
2026
Protected Areas
North American Protected Areas, 2025
The new map of North American Protected Areas is an update of the map published...
2025
Land Cover
Land Cover Change 30m, 2015-2020 (Landsat)
This map demonstrates land cover change between 2015 and 2020 in North America at a...
2024
Land Cover
North American Land Cover, 2020 (Landsat, 30m)
This map of North American land cover provides a harmonized view of the physical cover...
2024
Land Cover
Land Cover Change 30m, 2010-2015 (Landsat)
This map demonstrates land cover change between 2010 and 2015 in North America at a...
2024
Land Cover
Land Cover 30m, 2015 (Landsat and RapidEye)
This map of North American land cover at a spatial resolution of 30 meters provides...
2024
Land Cover
Land Cover, 2010 (Landsat, 30m)
This map of North American land cover at a spatial resolution of 30 meters provides...
2024
Pollutants
Landfills
The North American Landfills dataset represents the approximate location of known landfills and dumpsites (open...
2024
Transportation
North American Roads, 2020
As part of the North American Environmental Atlas, this reference dataset displays the roads network...
2024
Ecoregions, Land Cover
Elevation, 2023
The 250m elevation map of North America illustrates the region's terrain in relation to mean...
2023
Water
North American Lakes and Rivers, 2023
This North American Environmental Atlas dataset displays the coastline, linear hydrographic features (major rivers, streams,...
2023
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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Contact
Questions about the North American Environmental Atlas? Contact:
Dominique Croteau
Specialist, Geospatial and Environmental Information
(514) 350-4307