North American Environmental Atlas

North American Environmental Atlas thumbnail image

The North American Environmental Atlas (NAEA) provides over 150 geospatial data layers for download and online mapping. Data have been harmonized across the boundaries of Canada, United States, and Mexico by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation(This link is broken. We're working on fixing it) (CEC) to depict significant environmental issues throughout the North American continent at a scale of 1:10,000,000. The North American Atlas data are intended for geographic display and analysis at the national and continental level. These data should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:10,000,000-scale data.

For the most up to date version of these data, go to North American Environmental Atlas Data Files to read the full data descriptions and download the compressed data files.

Available Data Layers

>Downloading Data

North American Environmental Atlas data are downloadable from the CEC Data Files website. Various formats and metadata options are provided.

What's There?

All North American Environmental Atlas data category records in GIS Lookup

Note: Listing is current as of April 4, 2010

Base Layers

  • Bathymetry
  • Elevation
  • Shaded Relief
  • Glaciers and Sea Ice
  • Rivers and Lakes
  • Major Roads
  • Political Boundaries
  • Population Density
  • Populated Places
  • Precipitation
  • Railroads

Ecosystems and Land Cover

  • Seasonal Land Cover Change
  • Marine Ecoregions (Level I, Level II, Level III)
  • Terrestrial Ecoregions (Level I, Level II, Level III)
  • Wetlands
  • Land Cover (Pending)

Protection of Species and Areas

  • North American Marine Protected Areas
  • Baja to Bering Region
  • Priority Conservation Areas: Baja to Bering, 2005
  • Priority Conservation Areas: Grasslands
  • Terrestrial Protected Areas
  • Species of Common Conservation Concern:
    • American Black Bear
    • Black-tailed Prairie Dog
    • Blue Whale
    • Burrowing Owl
    • California Condor
    • Ferruginous Hawk
    • Fur Seal
    • Golden-cheeked Warbler
    • Gray Whale
    • Gray Wolf
    • Green Turtle
    • Hawksbill Turtle
    • Humpback Whale
    • Kemp's Ridley Turtle
    • Killer Whale
    • Leatherback Turtle
    • Loggerhead Shrike
    • Loggerhead Turtle
    • Mexican Long-nosed Bat
    • Monarch Butterfly
    • Mountain Plover
    • North Atlantic Right Whale
    • North Pacific Right Whale
    • Peregrine Falcon
    • Pink-footed Shearwater
    • Piping Plover
    • Sea Otter
    • Short-tailed Albatross
    • Sonoran Pronghorn
    • Southern Long-nosed Bat
    • Spotted Owl
    • Vaquita
    • Whooping Crane
    • Xanthus's Murrelet

Pollution and Waste

  • Industrial Facilities Reporting Pollutants
  • Commercial Marine Vessel Emissions

Human Influence

  • Anthropogenic Biomes
  • Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems
  • Human Influence on Terrestrial Ecosystems
  • Irrigated Areas
  • Installed Renewable Energy