CIESIN World Data Center: News
New Grid-Based Cartograms Build on CIESIN Population Data
Date: October 4, 2009The Gridded Population of the World (GPW) version 3 data set available through the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Application Center operated by CIESIN is the basis for a new set of grid-based population cartograms for most countries of the world recently released on the interactive Worldmapper Web site. Worldmapper is a collection of cartograms in which a particular thematic variable is substituted for the land area of a map, effectively re-sizing the map. In the case of the population grids, each cartogram provides a distinctive visualization of the internal population variations within a country or region. More-populated areas appear inflated whereas less-populated areas are less prominent. The cartograms have been made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported license.
Human Biomes Defined, Data Available, on New Web Site
Date: October 1, 2009Anthropogenic biomes, also known as “anthromes” or “human biomes,” describe the terrestrial biosphere in its contemporary, human-altered form using global ecosystem units defined by patterns of sustained direct human interaction. In a paper presented in the journal, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Ellis and Ramankutty (2008) delineate 21 anthropogenic biomes based on population density, land use, biota, climate, terrain and geology. The anthropogenic biomes are further grouped into six major categories: dense settlements, villages, croplands, rangeland, forested, and wildlands. A new Web site, “Anthropogenic Biomes (version one),” provides access to the spatial data sets described in the paper. Available in raster GeoTiff and GRID formats, the data may be downloaded as one global grid or a grid for each of the six populated continents. The methodology involves a multi-stage procedure where “anthropogenic” cells are first separated from “wild” cells based on presence of population, crops, or pastures. A detailed description of the methods utilized to produce the data, as well as research results, may be downloaded from the Web site.
Atlas of Livestock Production and Health Statistics Now Released
Date: June 25, 2009GLiPHA, the Global Livestock Production and Health Atlas, has been publically released. GLiPHA is an interactive, electronic atlas containing global animal production and health statistics. Sub-national statistics relating to the livestock sector can be viewed cartographically, against a back-drop of selected maps, such as livestock densities, land-use, and topography. Data may also be displayed and exported as tables and charts. The objectives of GLiPHA are to facilitate access to livestock sector information for analysis and informed decision making, and to increase awareness of sector-related social, health and environmental issues. GLiPHA draws on data managed within the Global Livestock Impact Mapping (GLIMS), a global, sub-national data warehouse containing a multitude of livestock-sector related information.
Key Inputs from SEDAC’s GPW Used in New EDGAR Release
Date: June 25, 2009SEDAC’s Gridded Population of the World (GPW) version 3 grids and population data are used as key inputs into the gridded products of version 4 of the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) released on May 25 by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. In EDGAR v4.0, emissions for 1970-2005 are spatially allocated on detailed geospatial grids (0.1 degree) using the exact location of energy and manufacturing facilities, road networks, shipping routes, human and animal population density and agricultural land use. GPW version 3 grids were used to ensure consistency between the country totals and the gridded datasets. EDGAR v4.0 data are available for download at no charge at http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/.
NASA and USGS Announce Availability of Global Land Survey 2005 Data
Date: June 24, 2009NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are pleased to announce that the Global Land Survey (GLS) 2005 data set is now essentially complete, and is available for download from USGS EROS. The GLS2005 offers global, orthorectified Landsat coverage centered on 2005, designed to support long-term mapping of land cover and vegetation trends.
The data set is composed of a single leaf-on, cloud-minimized image for each WRS-2 path/row location. In cases where Landsat-7 imagery have been used, multiple images have been merged and radiometrically adjusted to minimize gaps caused by the failure of the Landsat-7 scan-line corrector. Images were selected to optimize seasonal timing (vegetation greenness derived from AVHRR) and to minimize cloud cover. These data, together with those from the earlier GLS epochs (1975, 1990, 2000) offer a unique resource for assessing changes in the terrestrial environment during the past 35 years.
Currently about 140 images remain to be added to the GLS2005 data set, primarily over Indonesia and Brazil. As these images are processed they will be available through the GLOVIS interface. For more information on the Global Land Survey project or to download data, go to the GLS Web site.
New Report Says Climate Change May Cause Human Population Migrations
Date: June 10, 2009
The map depicts glaciers (white with blue border) in the Himalayas and the major rivers that flow from them. The rivers that drain these mountains move through some of the most populous areas in the world, yet the glaciers that feed the rivers are in retreat.
A new report says climate change may cause vast human migrations on an order not previously experienced. The report, In Search of Shelter: Mapping the Effects of Climate Change on Displacement and Migration, was written by researchers at CIESIN, the United Nations University, and CARE International. Drawing on empirical evidence from a new survey of every continent, with original maps created by CIESIN that pinpoint potential locations of critical displacements, the report explores how climate change is already causing people to leave their homes, and details some of the specific ways displacement may occur over the next decades. For example, the report says, melting glaciers will negatively affect agricultural systems throughout Asia and contribute to the risk of flooding. Natural disasters will continue to cause short-term migration, while the breakdown of eco-system-dependent livelihoods—such as subsistence herding, farming, and fishing—will cause long-term migration. Developing countries will be most vulnerable to migration and displacement, with less capacity to implement adaptation measures. A potential downward spiral from resulting ecological degradation and breakdown of social structures could ensue, leading to political instability which would further exacerbate population displacement.
The report calls for seeing climate-related migration and displacement as global in nature, not simply isolated local crises. It aims to inform critical policy making by presenting a comprehensive discussion of the linkages between environmental change, displacement, and migration.
Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Web Site Now Released
Date: May 7, 2009A new Web site that provides access to data and information on climate change has been released by the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) operated by CIESIN. The Web site, Integrated Assessment of Climate Change: Model Visualization and Analysis (MVA), aims to support researchers and policy analysts who model and assess the associated impacts and policy implications of global climate and environmental change. The Web site also provides access to relevant geospatial data and maps, including socioeconomic data and services available via the section of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Socioeconomic Data Distribution Center (DDC) that is operated by SEDAC.
New NRMI Conservation Data Added to SEDAC Map Client
Date: March 26, 2009In support of CIESIN’s Natural Resource Management Index (NRMI) contribution to the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), CIESIN’s SEDAC program has added to its Internet map client the protected areas “mask” and the World Wildlife Fund terrestrial biome data upon which the 2008 NRMI ecoregion protection indicator was calculated.
This tool will help countries assess their protected area coverage by biome in order to better understand their ecoregion protection indicator score. Further information on the methodology used to calculate the ecoregion protection indicator is available from the MCC/NRMI Web site.
New Global Digital Soil Map to Address Critical Gap in Knowledge for Improved Crop Production
Date: February 17, 2009A major initiative for developing and disseminating accurate digital information about soils in countries throughout the world was announced today. CIESIN’s role in this initiative will be to work with international partners to integrate and deliver soils data for the global database using state-of-the-art information and data management technologies.
The global digital soil map, GlobalSoilMap.net, aims to provide farmers, policy makers, and scientists with critical information on how to address declining soil fertility and improve soil management for better crop productivity. By expanding a spatial database of soil properties, GlobalSoilMap.net will leverage work begun recently by the Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS) on the first-ever, detailed digital map of soil in 42 countries of sub-Saharan Africa. GlobalSoilMap.net is being funded in part by the $18 million grant to create AfSIS, which was awarded to International Centre for Tropical Agriculture-Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (CIAT-TSBF) by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). An international consortium led by ISRIC-World Soil Information, based in the Netherlands, and including the Earth Institute of Columbia University will raise further funds and enhance the methodology for the map.
Unlike the existing global soil map, based on outdated data and difficult for non-soil scientists to interpret , GlobalSoilMap.net will leverage contemporary technological advances to more accurately collect soil data, predict soil conditions, and provide usable information for applied users. It will be made freely available online and through cost-effective media, and will utilize innovative new sources of soil information.
Database on Impacts Associated with Observed Changes in Climate Now Available
Date: February 6, 2009
The fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in 2008 concluded that it is likely that anthropogenic warming has had a discernible influence on many physical and biological systems. The database underlying this conclusion has now been made available through the IPCC Data Distribution Center (DDC), which is collaboratively operated by the British Atmospheric Data Centre in the United Kingdom, the Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum (DKRZ) in Germany, and CIESIN.
The Observed Climate Change Impacts Database was developed by an international team of scientists led by Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. The database collates information from a wide range of scientific studies that document significant environmental changes such as diminishing glaciers, melting permafrost, earlier snowmelt, lake and river warming, and coastal erosion as well as changes in biological systems such as earlier leaf unfolding and blooming dates and alterations in species interactions. Studies included in the database were based on observational data for at least 20 years between 1970 and 2004, and in some cases drew on more than 35 years of data. In a paper published in Nature in 2008, Dr. Rosenzweig and her colleagues demonstrated that the patterns of observed changes documented in the database and observed regional changes in temperature cannot be explained by natural variations alone. They therefore concluded that anthropogenic climate change is already having significant impacts on physical and biological systems globally and in some continents.
The DDC was established in 1997 to support the data needs of the IPCC assessments. CIESIN began supporting the DDC in 2003 as part of its NASA-funded Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), focusing on socioeconomic data and scenarios needed for the integrated assessment of climate change impacts.
PBL Launches Global Roads Database (GRIP)
Date: January 28, 2009The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) has launched a global roads database, the Global Roads Inventory Project (GRIP). GRIP version 1 is the first attempt by PBL to create a new (public domain) global roads database classified along the UNSDI-T datamodel domain of UNJLC. The data is aimed at a 250k-1M scale and will be used in PBL's global environmental assessment models. Commercial data was mainly used for Western Europe and India, the rest was collected from other publicly available sources.
PBL is investigating the option to make this part available under a BY-SA Creative Commons license to anyone who contributes to the GRIP database.
ENTRI Provides Regularly Updated Tool for Searching COP Decisions
Date: January 27, 2009Responding to the need for tracking the many decision documents approved by the Parties to environmental treaties, the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) has produced a Conference of Party (COP) Decision Search Tool as an add-on to its Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators (ENTRI) project. The search tool is powered by a Google appliance, and includes controlled “metadata” (coding of each decision document) to enable powerful advanced searches by date, COP number, or title of document. All decision documents are harvested and converted to PDF for consistency, but for reference purposes the original URL is listed. The tool currently includes decision documents from the first to the most recent COPs for ten agreements: Basel (transboundary wastes), CBD, CITES, CMS, FCCC, Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol, Ramsar, UNCCD, and Vienna (ozone). Users can search across all ten or limit the search to subsets.
Species Data Reveal Areas of High Biodiversity in the Americas, the World
Date: September 12, 2008
Human activities have contributed to habitat loss for a large number of species worldwide. In response, species mapping has become an increasingly important tool for conservation priority-setting and ecological modeling. Now a consortium of conservation organizations—NatureServe, IUCN, Conservation International, and World Wildlife Fund-USA—has developed a vast digital library of the distribution of birds and mammals of the Americas and amphibians of the world. To make these data more useful for a wide range of applications, CIESIN’s NASA-funded Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) converted the entire collection of shapefiles to raster format at 1-km grid-cell resolution. Basic or advanced searches may be undertaken for species in each of the three classes—amphibia, aves, and mammalia—using any number of criteria including class, family, genus, and endangerment status according to the IUCN Red List. Users may download the search results as zip files, with a readme file explaining how to use the data and a full metadata record of each of the data sets bundled in the file. The Web site provides the original vector data (in ESRI shape file format), the original grids (a raster version of the vector data), and presence grids (raster data depicting the presence or absence for each species). The grids are distributed in GeoTIFF format. In addition, SEDAC has created “richness grids” that describe the number of species by class and family found in each grid cell. Data sets include:
- 5,810 species of amphibia
- 4,166 species of aves
- 1,716 species of mammalia
Users may download maps showing species richness at continental and global scales for each of the three classes.
Updated Human Footprint Data Now Available
Date: March 17, 2008CIESIN has released an updated version of The Human Footprint, a data set that aims to measure the extent of human influence on the Earth’s surface. First produced in 2002 by CIESIN with the Wildlife Conservation Society, this new version of The Human Footprint uses updated data on human population density, land transformation, human access, electrical power infrastructure, and settlements. Urban boundaries are drawn from CIESIN’s urban population data (Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP)), which is more recent (circa 2000) and is also a better representation of urban boundaries than what was used in the first version. The population density data (Global Population of the World (GPWv3)), produced by the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) operated by CIESIN, also have a number of improvements over the data used in the earlier version. The roads data are more complete, particularly concerning roads in Africa and Latin America; a greater number of navigable rivers is included; and more extensive land cover data are used.
Data available for download include the Human Influence Index, Human Footprint, and the Last of the Wild data sets.
New Study in Nature Maps Global Hotspots of Emerging Diseases
Date: February 21, 2008A new study appearing in the Feb. 21 issue of Nature presents the first scientific evidence that emerging diseases are on the rise and that zoonoses—diseases from wildlife—are the prime threat, due to encroachment of wild areas by human population growth and related impacts. CIESIN’s deputy director Marc Levy is a co-author of the study, “Global Trends in Emerging Infectious Diseases,” which built a predictive model by correlating population data from the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) operated by CIESIN with analysis of emerging diseases from 1940 to 2004. “Overlaying maps of where the zoonotic diseases have occurred, with population maps, allows a pattern of relationships to emerge,” says Levy, “and is a first step in prediction.” The result is a global map of emerging disease “hotspots” that shows a pattern of growing vulnerability to new diseases in rich as well as poor nations, with implications for further prediction and prevention. The study also offers insights into the role of conservation in preventing new diseases and the importance of reviewing approaches to allocation of public health resources in order to reduce risk.
In addition to Levy and former CIESIN colleagues Deborah Balk and Adam Storeygard, now at Baruch College, CUNY and Brown University, respectively, the international research team included scientists from the Consortium Conservation Medicine (CCM) Wildlife Trust New York; The University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology; and The Institute of Zoology at the Zoological Society of London, where lead author of the study and former Earth Institute fellow Kate Jones is now senior fellow. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation. More about the study and NPR Interview: "Study Finds Emerging Diseases on Rise”
2008 Environmental Performance Index Released
Date: January 23, 2008The Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland was the venue for the release today of the 2008 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), co-authored by CIESIN and Yale University’s Center for Environmental Law and Policy. Last released in 2006, the EPI ranks 149 countries on 25 indicators across six policy categories: Environmental Health, Air Pollution, Water Resources, Biodiversity and Habitat, Productive Natural Resources, and Climate Change. Each indicator in the EPI measures how close each country comes to broadly-accepted targets, on a 0–100 scale. As a quantitative gauge of environmental outcomes, the Index is meant to provide a powerful tool for improving policymaking by shifting environmental decisionmaking onto firmer analytic foundations.
The 2008 EPI ranks Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Costa Rica as the top five overall countries. Mali, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Angola, and Niger occupy the bottom five positions. The U.S. is ranked 39th, lower than most industrial countries.
The Index also provides “peer group” rankings for each country, comparing performance of countries facing similar environmental challenges. These benchmarks allow easy tracking of leaders and laggards on an issue-by-issue and aggregate basis. The data also support efforts to identify “best practices” in the environmental realm.
