Year
1998 - 2001
Abstract
The Atlas of the Biosphere is an online resource which contains maps with geographically explicit data broken down into four general categories:
- Human Impacts
- Humans and the environment from a socio-economic perspective
- i.e. - Built-up Land, Infant Mortality Rate, Life Expectancy, Literacy Rate, Per Capita Oil Usage, Population (1995), Population Density (1999), Population Doubling Time, Population Growth Rate, and Population Under Age 15.
- Land Use
- How humans are using the land
- i.e. - Built-up Land, Croplands (1992), Irrigated Lands, Soil Organic Carbon, Soil pH, and Suitability for Agriculture.
- Ecosystems
- The natural ecosystems of the world
- i.e. - Annual Total Precipitation, Average Annual Relative Humidity and Temperature, Average Temperature, Evapotranspiration, Growing Degree Days, Net Primary Productivity, Potential Vegetation, and Soil Moisutre/Organic Carbon/pH.
- Water Resources
- Water in the biosphere
- i.e. - Annual Runoff/Precipitation, Evapotranspiration, Irrigated Lands, Lakes and Wetlands, Snow Depth, and Soil Moisture.
You may download maps (at 1600x1200 pixel resolution) and/or data (as an ESRI ArcView grid). The Atlas also includes animated schematics that look at the various resource flows and pools that make up individual Earth systems.
URL
The Atlas of the Biosphere is available online.
Scholars Geoportal URL
N/A