Random graphic of the day: UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library

Population density in the Balkans

Fri, 25 May 2012 22:54:34 -0200

Fighting may have ended but migration continues. Despite increasingly strict EU policies on immigration, the “western dream” still exerts a powerful force of attraction on the people of the Balkans. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of migrants being forcibly repatriated, under readmission agreements signed by all the west Balkan countries with the EU.

Pertes alimentaires par type de produit

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:27:31 -0200

Aliments consommés/perdus

Index of biodiversity potential in Central America

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:26:45 -0200

Biodiversity is vitally important to human well-being as it provides ecosystem services on which humans depend. For many species that are sensitive to even small variations in climate, their primary threat is climate change. Variations in climate affect different species of flora and fauna differently, producing, in some cases, a disruption in food chains and/or in reproductive patterns. It is therefore necessary to reduce or control greenhouse gas emissions to avoid causing temperature increases that threaten the extinction of species inhabiting the region. In Central America, biodiversity is one of the sectors most severely threatened by climate change (IPCC, 2007). Estimates of the potential biodiversity index of the region for 2005, using the baseline scenario (without climate change) and emissions scenarios B2 and A2 (climate change scenario B2 assumes some future mitigation of emissions through more efficient use of energy and more localized solutions. Climate change scenario A2 envisages lower economic growth, less globalization, and high and sustained demographic growth) show the magnitude of the loss of biodiversity that would occur towards the end of the century (ECLAC/CCAD/ DFID 2010).

Sea level rise due, past and scenarios due to global warming

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:26:33 -0200

Over the last 100 years, the global sea level has risen by about 10 to 25 cm. Sea level change is difficult to measure. Relative sea level changes have been derived mainly from tide-gauge data. In the conventional tide-gauge system, the sea level is measured relative to a land-based tide-gauge benchmark. The major problem is that the land experiences vertical movements (e.g. from isostatic effects, neotectonism, and sedimentation), and these get incorporated into the measurements. However, improved methods of filtering out the effects of long-term vertical land movements, as well as a greater reliance on the longest tide-gauge records for estimating trends, have provided greater confidence that the volume of ocean water has indeed been increasing, causing the sea level to rise within the given range. It is likely that much of the rise in sea level has been related to the concurrent rise in global temperature over the last 100 years. On this time scale, the warming and the consequent thermal expansion of the oceans may account for about 2-7 cm of the observed sea level rise, while the observed retreat of glaciers and ice caps may account for about 2-5 cm. Other factors are more difficult to quantify. The rate of observed sea level rise suggests that there has been a net positive contribution from the huge ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica, but observations of the ice sheets do not yet allow meaningful quantitative estimates of their separate contributions. The ice sheets remain a major source of uncertainty in accounting for past changes in sea level because of insufficient data about these ice sheets over the last 100 years.

Eco-design strategies

Mon, 21 May 2012 12:26:19 -0200

You do always have the option of remembering how much energy went into building your house.

Transportation projects converging on the Caspian Sea

Sun, 20 May 2012 12:25:18 -0200

For many years, coastal navigation has connected republics in the former Soviet Union. It used the only outlet from the Caspian, the Volga-Don canal, which connects the Black Sea and the Russian canal system to the Baltic. It is still used to transport raw materials, timber, coal, grain, fertilisers, etc.

Above-ground carbon stocks

Sat, 19 May 2012 12:23:55 -0200

Some of the richest above-ground carbon stocks are found in forests occupied by Sumatran orangutans. The total carbon stored in the above-ground woody biomass of a tropical forest varies between 170 and 250 tonnes of carbon per hectare.

Trend in mean depth of catch since 1950

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:23:26 -0200

Fisheries catches increasingly originate from deep areas. Over the years due to depletion in fish stocks the fishing industry has resorted to fishing at greater depths and increasing the damage to fish stocks and the ocean floor.

Overview of renewable energy sources

Thu, 17 May 2012 12:23:02 -0200

This chart shows eight different sources of renewable energy and explains advantages and drawbacks of each - wind, sun (photovoltaic and thermal), geothermal, wood, ocean, waste, water (hydroelectricity).

Formation of lakes and glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) by Medvezhi Glacier, Pamirs

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:23:00 -0200

The increasing number of glacial and moraine lakes in Central Asian mountains is a matter of great concern. One of the surging glaciers that poses a potential threat is the 15 km long Medvezhi (Bear) Glacier in the Pamirs mountains of Tajikistan. Its surges have repeatedly caused lake formation, outburst and subsequent floodings. In 1963 and 1973, the surge of the glacier was so significant (1 to 2 km increase in length) that the ice dam exceeded 100 m in height and dammed a lake of over 20 million m3 of water and debris. The outburst of that lake generated a series of large flood waves. Due to early warning and monitoring, there were no victims, although infrastructural damage was significant.

Who gets the trash?

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:22:30 -0200

As we continually update and invent new products the life of the old ones is getting shorter and shorter. Like shipbreaking, e-waste recycling involves the major producers and users, shipping the obsolete products to Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa. But instead of being “green” we are exporting a sack full of problems to people who have to choose between poverty or poison. This graphic illustrates major receivers of e-waste in Asia.