Atlas of Our Changing Environment

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Atlas of Our Changing Environment is a series of atlases published beginning in 2005 by the United Nations Environment Programme. The series includes:

Atlas A collection of maps

An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or a region of Earth.

United Nations Environment Programme Programme of the United Nations

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is a programme of the United Nations that coordinates the organization's environmental activities and assists developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices. It was founded by Maurice Strong, its first director, as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972 and has overall responsibility for environmental problems among United Nations agencies; however, international talks on specialized issues, such as addressing climate change or combating desertification, are overseen by other UN organizations, like the Bonn-based Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. UNEP's activities cover a wide range of issues regarding the atmosphere, marine and terrestrial ecosystems, environmental governance and green economy. It has played a significant role in developing international environmental conventions, promoting environmental science and information and illustrating the way those can be implemented in conjunction with policy, working on the development and implementation of policy with national governments, regional institutions in conjunction with environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs). UNEP has also been active in funding and implementing environment related development projects.

African Great Lakes Series of lakes in the Rift Valley

The African Great Lakes are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the third-largest fresh water lake in the world by area, Lake Tanganyika, the world's second-largest freshwater lake by volume and depth, and Lake Malawi, the world's eighth-largest fresh water lake by area. Collectively, they contain 31,000 km3 of water, which is more than either Lake Baikal or the North American Great Lakes. This total constitutes about 25% of the planet's unfrozen surface fresh water. The large rift lakes of Africa are the ancient home of great biodiversity, and 10% of the world's fish species live there.

These publications primarily make use of historical and recent satellite data alongside maps and photos to highlight areas of environmental change around the globe. [1] [2]

Satellite Human-made object put into an orbit

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object that has been intentionally placed into orbit. These objects are called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as Earth's Moon.

Environmental change is a change or disturbance of the environment most often caused by human influences and natural ecological processes. Environmental changes can include any number of things, including natural disasters, human interferences, or animal interaction. Environmental change does not only encompass physical changes, but it can be things like an infestation of invasive species is also environmental changes.

Globe A three-dimensional scale model of a spheroidal celestial body

A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to some maps, but unlike maps, do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe of Earth is called a terrestrial globe. A model globe of the celestial sphere is called a celestial globe.

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Natural environment All living and non-living things occurring naturally, generally on Earth

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate, weather and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished as components:

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Marilynne Robinson American novelist and essayist

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Atlas V expendable launch system

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World Environment Day day established by the United Nations Environment Programme

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Human overpopulation The condition where human numbers exceed the short or long-term carrying capacity of the environment

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References

  1. "Washington, DC Launch of Africa: Atlas of Our Changing Environment". Wilson Center. 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  2. "Book Launch: One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment". Wilson Center. 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
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