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From 2001 to 2005, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) brought together more than 1,300 experts worldwide to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being. The MA provided a comprehensive scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world’s ecosystems and associated services at that time, and articulated the scientific basis for action to conserve and use these ecosystems sustainably. The core data used and developed by the MA had been maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) program, but unfortunately when this program was terminated in January 2012, access to the data ended.

To remedy this situation and to ensure long-term preservation of and access to these important data, the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) operated by CIESIN obtained copies of the original data and has recently released them as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Collection. The original data consisted of many files that were not well documented or organized, so SEDAC has grouped the data into six separate data sets: population; scenarios; biodiversity; climate and land cover; ecosystems; and rapid land cover change. Although most of the data in the collection have been superseded by newer versions, the data may still be of interest from both scientific and historical perspectives since they reflect the state of knowledge at the time the assessment was completed.

In preparing the collection, SEDAC has sought to provide access to the data in their original formats with basic documentation. Users will need to refer directly to the MA reports for details on sources, methods, and interpretation of the data.

A new data release offers insights into the extent of global human exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) over more than a decade. The new data set replaces an earlier one released by the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center operated by CIESIN and features improved accuracy, a longer time span, and higher spatial resolution than the previous version.

Satellite-derived estimates of PM2.5 provide one of the few ways of assessing changes in exposure to air pollution around the world over the long term. The data set consists of a series of global grids representing three-year running averages, from 1998-2012, derived from measurements of Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) from three different NASA instruments: MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), MISR (Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer), and SeaWIFS (Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor). The grids were developed by Aaron van Donkelaar and colleagues at Dalhousie University in Canada.

These global grids of estimated PM2.5 surface concentrations, expressed in micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3), are useful for health and environmental research and have already served as a valuable input to the World Health Organization (WHO) global burden of disease study. Fine-particulate matter represents one of the most serious types of air pollutants and is of particular concern in many parts of Asia. For example, the estimated proportion of the people in East Asia living above the WHO Interim Target-1 of 35 μg/m3 increased from 51% in 1998–2000 to 70% in 2010–2012.

The raster grids have a grid cell resolution of 6 arc-minutes (0.1 degree, or approximately 10 km at the equator) and cover the global land surface from 70 degrees north to 55 degrees south. More details can be found in the van Donkelaar et al. 2015 article, “Use of Satellite Observations for Long-Term Exposure Assessment of Global Concentrations of Fine Particulate Matter,” in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

The NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center has released a new data set on the extent of mangrove forest cover, which is among the most productive and biologically important ecosystems in the world. Global Mangrove Forests Distribution, version one, indicates that mangrove forests around the year 2000 covered an estimated 137,760 square kilometers across 118 countries and territories worldwide. Mangroves are a unique type of tropical vegetation, appearing as groups of shrubs or trees as high as fifty feet and prospering in the distinct brackish habitats of coastal deltas. Their deep, extensive roots typically host a diversity of small marine organisms that require a hard surface and stable shelter as tides come and go. Mangroves help stabilize shorelines and can reduce the impact of natural hazards such as tsunamis and coastal storms.

The Global Mangrove Forests Distribution data set was derived from one thousand Landsat scenes acquired between 1997 and 2000. Mangrove areas were identified using digital image processing methods and labeled with the help of reference field data and high-resolution commercial satellite imagery. The data are provided at a spatial resolution of about 30 meters, and are organized for downloading as tiles covering 10 degrees latitude by 10 degrees longitude. The data are useful in ecosystem modeling, biodiversity research, land cover change analysis, global carbon accounting studies, coastal hazard assessments, and decision-making regarding human-environment interactions and future adaptive strategies.

The data set was developed by an international team led by Chandra Giri of the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation Science Center (EROS). Giri has previously worked at CIESIN and recently completed a 3-year term as a member of the SEDAC User Working Group.

The NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) recently released version two of the Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates as part of the SEDAC Low-Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ) collection, providing aggregate estimates of land area and urban, rural, and total population for 202 statistical areas (countries and other UN-recognized territories). Population and land area estimates are subdivided by elevation zones derived from the NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) elevation data. The analysis was conducted using two different spatial resolutions, approximately 90 meters and approximately 1 kilometer, providing a range of estimates. Pivot tables enable grouping and filtering of data by country, region, continent, income level, elevation zone, and other attributes.

Version one of this data set only provided estimates for the 10-meter elevation zone, whereas version two includes selected elevation levels between 1 and 20 meters. Version two also incorporates improvements in the coastline boundaries and provides population estimates for the years 1990, 2000, and 2010 along with a long-term projection to the year 2100.

IRIN

The Working Group II contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (WGII AR5), Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, was released March 31 in Yokohama, Japan. The Report concludes that the effects of climate change can already be seen and the world is not well-prepared for risks that may result from climate change. High levels of warming will challenge opportunities for response.

The Working Group identified three elements contributing to risk from climate change: vulnerability (lack of preparedness) and exposure (people or assets in harm’s way), overlapping with hazards (triggering climate events or trends). Observed impacts of climate change have already affected agriculture, human health, ecosystems on land and in the oceans, water supplies, and some people’s livelihoods. Observed impacts are found worldwide, throughout diverse climates and from small islands to large continents, in wealthy countries as well as poor.

CIESIN deputy director, Marc Levy, was a lead author of chapter 12 on human security, a topic highlighted in the Report for the first time. Among this chapter's key findings are that societies in conflict are more vulnerable to climate change; that migration is a widely used strategy for adapting to climate impacts; that climate change is likely to amplify conflict risk; and that climate change threatens to disrupt geopolitical security dynamics.  

Levy was among 309 coordinating lead authors, lead authors, and review editors, drawn from 70 countries, who produced the report. The IPCC further enlisted the help of 436 contributing authors and a total of 1,729 expert and government reviewers. CIESIN senior research associate Valentina Mara was a contributing author for chapter 13, on livelihoods and poverty.  CIESIN data and reports, as well as journal articles written by CIESIN staff, were cited in several chapters of the report.

For the past two decades, IPCC’s Working Group II has developed assessments of climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. The latest Working Group I report, which focused on the physical science dimension of climate change, was released in September 2013. The Working Group III report, which focuses on mitigation, is scheduled for release in April 2014. The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report cycle concludes with the publication of its Synthesis Report in October 2014.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to assess the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant for the understanding of human induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for mitigation and adaptation. CIESIN co-manages the IPCC Data Distribution Centre (DDC), which makes available data from IPCC assessments and other reports, and contributes on an ongoing basis to the IPCC Task Group on Data and Scenario Support for Impact and Climate Analysis (TGICA).

Measurement aligned with management practices can support significant progress in achieving environmental performance goals. This is one of the core messages to emerge from the sixth iteration of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), released at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 25 by CIESIN deputy director, Marc Levy, a co-author of the report with Angel Hsu, lead author, and Kim Samuel, co-creator of the project.

The 2014 EPI Report also highlights how lack of monitoring and proper management can cause natural and human systems to suffer—as seen in the negative state of fish stocks around the world—and  how  some elements of sustainability are better supported by the high density of urban areas.

Produced every two years by a research team from the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and CIESIN, Columbia University, the EPI this year evaluates 178 countries, with new additions, in large part, from Small-Island Developing States and sub-Saharan Africa. Innovations in this year’s release include: a new wastewater treatment indicator, which is a major driver of ecosystem water quality; a new approach to climate change indicators, which evaluates emissions relative to a country’s economic development; and two new satellite-derived indicators for air quality and forests, which more accurately depict environmental policy performance than did previous models and national reports.

The EPI ranks country performance on high-priority environmental issues in two broad policy areas, protection of human health from environmental harm and protection of ecosystems. The 2014 EPI innovations help inform, among other things, ongoing discussion surrounding the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The full report and redesigned Web site are available at http://epi.yale.edu.

Many online networks for researchers or other communities of interest were begun around the year 2000, but the Population-Environment Research Network (PERN) is one of the few to have stood the test of time. For more than a decade PERN has been serving the research community focused on the interdisciplinary study of coupled human-environment systems, with particular emphasis on how demographic variables impact and are in turn affected by environmental factors. PERN now has more than 2,000 members from all over the world, divided evenly between low- and high-income countries. It has hosted 20 online seminars that resulted in five articles in high impact journals such as Population & Environment and Global Environmental Change.  PERN’s online eLibrary of peer-reviewed and gray literature, which has customized key word search capabilities to get at the literature most desired, features close to 3,000 citations. Finally, PERN produces a What’s New bulletin three times a year, with a separate conference calendar and job/funding opportunities list, and hosts a discussion list for members to post announcements.

PERN is a collaboration between the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University. The co-coordinators, Susana Adamo and Alex de Sherbinin, are both researchers at CIESIN, as is the network assistant, Lisa Lukang. Basic maintenance for the Web site is underwritten by the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), managed by CIESIN.

Satellite observations are proving to be a valuable tool in assessing air pollution, specifically one of the worst pollutants, PM2.5 (microscopic particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter). Ground-based monitoring of this type of pollutant, which can lodge deep in lungs and may lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, is expensive. Many countries lack the technical and financial resources to set up their own monitoring systems. Satellite monitoring, though less accurate than ground-based measurements, has the advantage of providing wall-to-wall coverage at relatively low cost.

Building on a model developed by researchers at Dalhousie University that estimates ground-based concentrations of PM2.5 from data on aerosol optical depth (AOD), a team from the Battelle Memorial Institute and CIESIN developed annual estimates of PM2.5 concentrations over a 10-year period on a global latitude-longitude grid. The AOD data were obtained from two different NASA instruments, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR).

The gridded data, developed by the NASA-funded project, "Using Satellite Data to Develop Environmental Indicators: An Application of NASA Data Products to Support High Level Decisions for National and International Environmental Protection," are the basis for environmental indicators designed to support health and environmental research and decision making. For example, they have been used in developing the particulate matter indicator of the 2012 Environmental Performance Index (EPI).

Exposure to high levels of PM2.5 is associated with premature death as well as increased morbidity from respiratory and cardiovascular disease, especially among the elderly, young children, and those already suffering from these illnesses. The World Health Organization guideline for PM2.5 average annual exposure is less than or equal to 10.0 micrograms per cubic meter, whereas the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) primary standard is less than or equal to 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter.

CIESIN has released a digital global data set on intercity roads, the Global Roads Open Access Data Set, Version 1 (gROADSv1). Developed under the auspices of the Global Roads Data Development Task Group of the Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) of the International Council for Science, gROADSv1 combines the best available open access data on roads between human settlements into a global roads coverage consistent with the United Nations Spatial Data Infrastructure Transport (UNSDI-T) version 2 data model.

This first version of the gROADS data set is part of a continuing effort to address the need among professionals in the humanitarian response, development, transportation, biodiversity conservation, and allied fields for free and open, spatially accurate, and readily updateable data on roads in order to better understand issues such as market access, cost of transportation, and human pressures on the environment. Data on road networks connecting human settlements may be especially valuable when used in conjunction with remote sensing and other spatial data to improve decision making related to urbanization and rural development. gROADSv1 is being distributed by the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) operated by CIESIN, and represents an important step towards addressing the criteria established by the CODATA Task Group.

CIESIN moved to the Lamont Campus of Columbia University in Palisades, New York, in July 1998, becoming a center in the newly established Earth Institute along with the International Research Institute on Climate and Society (IRI).

In late 1992, I received a call from a head hunter who was seeking suggestions for a senior scientist with a non-profit organization that had an odd acronym and long name: CIESIN, the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network, based in Saginaw, Michigan. Although not senior myself, I thought I had a lot of the desired interdisciplinary expertise and experience already—in part from working with geographer Bob Kates as an assistant professor with the Alan Shawn Feinstein World Hunger Program at Brown University—so I applied for the position. After a short period working as a consultant, I began at CIESIN fulltime in March 1993, the same month that Dr. Roberta Balstad Miller took over as CIESIN’s second president.

The Science Division I joined was directed by the late Jack Eddy, a noted space scientist with whom I had worked on a National Research Council study for the International-Geosphere Biosphere Program. In the first few years, we had the opportunity to launch some exciting new activities, including a Global Demography Project proposed by distinguished geographer Waldo Tobler and some innovative online data resources such as the Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators (ENTRI) database and the China Dimensions data collection. With the Internet and the World Wide Web still in their early stages, CIESIN was ahead of the curve in bringing new data and information technologies to bear on interdisciplinary problems involving both the natural and social sciences. Full Story

A unique source of interdisciplinary data on people and the environment is the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC), operated by CIESIN as part of NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). SEDAC works to enhance the value of NASA’s remote sensing data and information by disseminating complementary socioeconomic and environmental data and creating value-added integrated data products and services, including a wide variety of ready-to-use maps and mapping tools.

With more than 40,000 unique visitors per month on average, SEDAC’s Web site provides a central access point for SEDAC data, information, tools, and other resources. A major redesign over the past year has greatly streamlined the user interface and improved access to SEDAC’s diverse holdings of spatial and other data and associated documentation. The most recent release includes a major upgrade to the search interface for SEDAC’s map collection, which contains more than 2,000 pre-formatted maps, all available openly under a Creative Commons-Attribution Only license. The Web site has also been improved in response to a recent usability review conducted by a leading user experience research firm commissioned by NASA.

SEDAC’s data, which cover topics ranging from population distribution to natural disaster risk to environmental sustainability, are available to users for free via direct download and in many cases via database queries or map services compliant with open standards. SEDAC also provides users with assistance by e-mail or telephone, as well as examples of the use of SEDAC data in research and real-world applications. Feedback on the new Web site and on SEDAC’s holdings may be submitted online.

A new data set and related map client have been produced in conjunction with a preliminary assessment of internationally important coastal wetlands and their vulnerability to sea level rise due to climate change. The study, “Evaluating the Risk to Ramsar Sites from Climate Change-induced Sea Level Rise,” was conducted by CIESIN as an input to the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Ramsar sites are wetlands designated as Wetlands of International Importance under an intergovernmental treaty established in 1971.

Two scenarios were evaluated: sea level rise (SLR) of up to 1 meter, which is close to what is predicted for this century by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and SLR of up to 2 meters, which is an upper bound for SLR in this century under a rapid ice melt scenario. The study also examines impediments to landward migration of wetlands, such as urban areas and populated areas. The data are available for download in spreadsheet format, and the map client can visualize the risk to coastal Ramsar sites of 1- and 2-meter increases in mean sea level.

The study recognizes that sea level rise will not be consistent globally, but is affected by coastal bathymetry and local topography and tides, and the extent of areas periodically submerged will also be affected by storm surges. There will also be many secondary SLR impacts, such as the displacement of human populations and agricultural activities, that could have additional consequences for wetland and biodiversity loss. Because time and resources did not permit this level of analysis globally, the report and associated data represent a first-order risk assessment.

Map of coastal proximity zones in South America. PLACE III provides land area and urban and rural population estimates for people living within 200km, 100km, 10km, or 5km of their country’s coastline.

Version 3 of the Population, Landscape, and Climate Estimates data set (PLACE III) has been released as part the National Aggregates of Geospatial Data Collection, produced by the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) operated by CIESIN. PLACE III provides national-level estimates of resident population and land area in relation to the environmental characteristics of their location (for example, by biome, climate zone, coastal proximity, and elevation) in a tabular format. Population estimates are available for 1990, 2000, and 2010 for 232 statistical areas (countries and other territories recognized by the United Nations). New features in version 3 are separate estimates for urban and rural populations and a pivot table to facilitate data selection and analysis.

The PLACE III data set is especially useful for those who are not familiar with specialized geospatial software and methods. The data set is organized so that users can quickly find the specific countries and variables of interest. It may be downloaded as an Excel spreadsheet or as a comma-separated file (CSV) that can be opened by any text editor. Spreadsheet users may filter data by country, urban or rural classification, and other categories such as geoRegion (a geographic entity defined by the UN, similar to continent), geoSubregion (regions smaller than continents but larger than countries), and income group or lending category (World Bank global classifications of poverty and lending attractiveness).

Population and land area estimates have been generated for a variety of themes, including biomes of the world, climate classifications and predictions, elevation levels, distance from the coast, and population density zones. PLACE III facilitates comparative research at the national level by providing access to a range of useful summary variables on such questions as approximately how many people live within 10 kilometers of the coastline in South American countries; roughly how many rural Africans live in deserts and xeric shrublands; or how populations are distributed by elevation in southern Asia. Data from previous versions of PLACE have been used and cited in a number of scientific articles in both the natural and social sciences.

“Where the Rain Falls,” a project led by the development non-governmental organization CARE, working with the United Nations University (UNU) and CIESIN, has released a new set of case studies and associated maps examining the interplay between rainfall patterns, food security, and human mobility. Field research was conducted in eight countries—Bangladesh, India, Guatemala, Peru, Ghana, Tanzania, Thailand and Vietnam—using participatory research, household surveys, and expert interviews. The research aims to answer the question, Under what circumstances do households use migration as a risk management strategy in response to increasing rainfall variability and food insecurity?

This is the second time that CIESIN has partnered with CARE and UNU to produce maps that complement findings from ground-based research on climate change and migration. In 2009 they produced the maps and data visualizations for In Search of Shelter. The integration of data from multiple sources in visually attractive maps helps tell the story about migration in a way that written narratives alone cannot accomplish.

Members of the Jordanian battalion of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) rescue children after a hurricane destroyed their orphanage. September 7, 2008, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. UN Photo/Marco Dormino. www.un.org/av/photo/

A one-day conference, “Identifying Lessons for Natural Resources Management in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding,” was hosted at Columbia University April 25 by CIESIN, Advanced Consortium for Conflict, Cooperation and Complexity (AC4) and the Earth Institute, in partnership with the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). More than 130 participants explored lessons in strengthening post-conflict peacebuilding through the lens of natural resource management. Many were authors of case studies in a seven-volume book series launched the same week and featured prominently during the conference. Panel discussions and breakout sessions reflected on lessons emerging from from the cases and implications for practice and scholarship.

A two-day workshop followed the event, focusing on strategies to develop educational and training tools utilizing the new case studies and other relevant material. Among the innovative teaching methods and products highlighted was the Ground|Work simulation tool, wherein students devise a strategy for managing environment and resource challenges in the context of a fictional post-conflict country. The online teaching tool, developed by School of International Affairs adjunct professor and CIESIN deputy director Marc Levy and program manager Alex Fischer in partnership with The Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL), is currently used in Levy’s course on environment, conflict, and resolution strategies.

For more information about the conference and the book series, please go to www.environmentalpeacebuilding.com.

The new online mapping service, the National Priority List (NPL) Superfund Footprint Mapper, was featured as part of a Webinar sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Partnerships for Public Environmental Health (PEPH) on May 7. Participants numbered 158 attendees, more than 30 from federal agencies. Senior research associate Meredith Golden showcased the Mapper with assistance from geographic information specialist Tricia Chai-Onn, who also helped develop the service. Golden highlighted data from several projects of the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center operated by CIESIN. These include the U.S. Census Grids and the Global Poverty Mapping Project. The NPL Superfund Footprint Mapper can display population and environmental characteristics for areas surrounding more than 1700 NPL Superfund sites. An archived recording of the Webinar will be available soon on the SRP Web site.

Announced at the World Economic Forum held January 25–29 in Davos, Switzerland, the 2012 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) produced by CIESIN and Yale University’s Center for Environmental Law and Policy (YCELP), in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Center in Ispra, Italy, identifies Switzerland as first in addressing pollution control and natural resource management challenges. Iraq is ranked last. The EPI has been produced every two years since 2006. The 2012 EPI ranks 132 countries, using 22 indicators in ten major policy categories including air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity, and forest management.

For the first time a complementary index showing country improvement from 2000 to 2010, the Pilot Trend Environmental Performance Index (Trend EPI), was released. Latvia was ranked number one in the Trend EPI, with Russia in last place. The U.S., which is 49^th in the EPI, was just 77^th in the Trend EPI, implying few recent gains in addressing environmental issues.

Data sets making up the EPI were contributed from the International Energy Agency, remote sensing research groups at Battelle and University of Maryland, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and other entities. Lack of data in certain areas—in particular, waste management, toxic exposures, agricultural sustainability and water resources—continue to limit the ability of the EPI to contribute towards the understanding necessary to develop policies for safeguarding the environment.

The first independent analysis of China environmental data at the sub-national level by an international team has been released by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), part of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, and Yale University. The report, Towards a China Environmental Performance Index, presents a framework for assessing environmental performance by province as an aid to developing government environmental policies. China faces formidable environmental challenges owing to its large population, limited water resources, rapid economic growth, and fast-paced urbanization.

The research was carried out in collaboration with the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning and the City University of Hong Kong. The framework that emerged, developed in consultation with many environmental experts in China and the U.S., provides a tailored set of issues and indicators that will be important to track for the foreseeable future. Core policy issues include air pollution, water quality, climate change, energy efficiency, and toxic metals, among others. According to the report, greater transparency and freer access to data, especially raw data from monitoring systems and spatial data on environmental conditions, are essential in the future development of environmental performance indicators for China.

The Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy and CIESIN have been the world leaders in developing national-scale environmental indices since they launched the Environmental Sustainability Index in the year 2000. The motivation behind the subnational work in China was to better reflect the country's diverse geographical landscapes and differentiated environmental stresses, and to provide a more effective tool for policy making.

A complete redesign of the Web site of the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC) operated by CIESIN has been released. The goal of the new SEDAC Web site is to facilitate the discovery and access of SEDAC data and information resources through improved search tools, a map gallery, thematic slices into SEDAC content, and Internet mapping tools. The site employs the latest information technologies, including a backend content management system based on Bluenog/Hippo, a map gallery using Flickr, Web mapping services supported by Geoserver/OpenLayers, and social networking tools. As part of SEDAC’s efforts to support its diverse community of users, the site encourages user comments via a tool that allows anonymous feedback.

A screen shot of the nuclear plant proximity analysis combined with the interactive global population density Google Earth map. CIESIN/Nature.

A new study in Nature News, “Residents, Reactors, and Risk,” finds that that many of the world’s nuclear power plants are surrounded by large numbers of people. The analysis, carried out by staff from Nature and from CIESIN, combined a database of nuclear reactors with population data from the Global Rural-Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP), developed by the NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center operated by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). The interactive maps accompanying the article permit more detailed exploration of population exposure to nuclear reactor accident risk.

Among other findings, the study shows that two-thirds of the world’s power plants have a higher population living within a 30-kilometer radius than the 0.17 million living within 30-kilometers of the site of the recent Fukushima nuclear accident; with some populations totaling as much as 3 million. The plant with the greatest population (8.2 million) within the 30 kilometer radius is in Karachi, Pakistan. Next greatest is in Taiwan, with one plant surrounded by 5.5 million people and another with 4.7 million; the capital city, Taipei, falls within the zones of both plants. Extending the radius to 75 kilometers, the study finds 152 nuclear power plants with more than one million people, including the Indian Point plant in upstate New York, with 17.3 million people.