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Good decisions depend on access to good information. The World Resources Institute fills this need by providing EarthTrends, the World's premier environmental information website.

• EarthTrends is an interactive, online resource making key environmental information accessible to a worldwide audience of government and corporate policy makers, non-governmental organizations, and educators and students.

• EarthTrends makes available the wealth of information from current and past World Resources Reports and data from 15 other internationally recognized sources.

• EarthTrends is organized around 10 topics and provides data on more than 400 variables for 210 countries.

navigating EarthTrends is as simple as 1, 2, 3…

1. choose a topic

2. select an information tool

3. get the data!

World Resources Institute

the best place on the web for environmental and sustainable development information

…..packed with facts and figures valuable to policy makers, researchers, and even teachers hoping to jazz up a lecture.” Science, Vol. 293, 6 July 2001

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10 topic areas allow intuitive organization

• Coastal and Marine Ecosystems • Climate and Atmosphere • Energy and Resources • Forests and Grasslands • Environmental Governance and

Institutions • Population, Health and Human Well-

being

• Water Resources and Freshwater Ecosystems

• Economics, Business, and the Environment

• Biodiversity and Protected Areas • Agriculture and Food

five information tools provide different ways to visualize data

Searchable Database:

• detailed data for over 10 regions, 210 countries and over 400 variables

• time series data show positive or negative environmental trends

• example of what is in EarthTrends: how rapidly U.S. carbon emissions have grown compared to China and India since 1950 and how much growth is from coal

• at right: the result of a query for per capita carbon dioxide emissions.

Data Tables: • a quick, thorough overview of environmental

issues • tables for each of EarthTrends topic areas tells a

complete story about that topic • over 180 countries and 10 regions • example of what is in EarthTrends: tables on

Population and Human Well-being tables cover population, fertility, disease, literacy, school enrollment, and access to clean water and sanitation

• at right: a table on trends in mortality, life expectancy, and AIDS.

e - m a i l C h r i s t i a n L a y k e @ c o t t k e @ w r i . o r g w i t h q u e s t i o n s o r t o s i g n u p f o r m o n t h l y u p d a t e s o n n e w d a t a

Country Profiles: • a complete environment and development

picture for each country. • attractive and easy-to-use • technical notes give details about the data • graphs allow users to visualize changes over

time • regional data are included for comparison's

sake. • example of what is in EarthTrends: each

topic area has profiles for over 200 countries is covered

• at right: Japan's Energy and Resources profile is to the right.

Maps: • graphical representations of important

environmental issues • analysis of the information portrayed • sources of information and links to other sites

are included • example of what is in EarthTrends: maps

of forest cover, freshwater availability, and cattle density in Africa

• at right: a map of signatories to the Kyoto Protocol

Features Stories: • short text and graphic pieces written to give an

overview of environmental issues • example of what is in EarthTrends: the

benefits and problems of aquaculture, progress on eliminating the ozone hole, and why shade-grown coffee is important

• at right: a feature on the importance of woodfuel around the world

EarthTrends is sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme,

the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Bank, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Ford Motor Company,

and the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation.