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Source : UN

Source :  http://www.economist.com

Source :   http://www.economist.com

Link :  http://www.economist.com

Source :  UNESCO

Source :  UN Environment Programme

The Cryosphere, components and world maps. Snow and the various forms of ice - the cryosphere - play different roles within the climate system. The two continental ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland actively influence the global climate over time scales of millennia to millions of years, but may also have more rapid effects on, for example, sea level. Snow and sea ice, with their large areas but relatively small volumes, are connected to key interactions and feedbacks at global scales, including solar reflectivity and ocean circulation. Perennially frozen ground (permafrost) influences soil water content and vegetation over vast regions and is one of the cryosphere components most sensitive to atmospheric warming trends. As permafrost warms, organic material stored in permafrost may release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and increase the rate of global warming. Glaciers and ice caps, as well as river and lake ice, with their smaller areas and volumes, react relatively quickly to climate effects, influencing ecosystems and human activities on a local scale and acts as good indicators of climate change. Snow cover extent for Northern Hemisphere is represented by the 1966–2005 February average, for Southern Hemisphere by the 1987–2003 August average. Sea ice extent for Northern Hemisphere is represented by the 1979–2003 March average, for Southern Hemisphere by the 1979–2002 September average. Permafrost data for mountain areas and for the Southern Hemisphere are not represented in this map, neither are river and lake ice.

Source : UN Environment Programme

The Cryosphere, world map. Snow and the various forms of ice - the cryosphere - play different roles within the climate system. The two continental ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland actively influence the global climate over time scales of millennia to millions of years, but may also have more rapid effects on, for example, sea level. Snow and sea ice, with their large areas but relatively small volumes, are connected to key interactions and feedbacks at global scales, including solar reflectivity and ocean circulation. Perennially frozen ground (permafrost) influences soil water content and vegetation over vast regions and is one of the cryosphere components most sensitive to atmospheric warming trends. As permafrost warms, organic material stored in permafrost may release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and increase the rate of global warming. Glaciers and ice caps, as well as river and lake ice, with their smaller areas and volumes, react relatively quickly to climate effects, influencing ecosystems and human activities on a local scale and acts as good indicators of climate change. Snow cover extent for Northern Hemisphere is represented by the 1966–2005 February average, for Southern Hemisphere by the 1987–2003 August average. Sea ice extent for Northern Hemisphere is represented by the 1979–2003 March average, for Southern Hemisphere by the 1979–2002 September average. Permafrost data for mountain areas and for the Southern Hemisphere are not represented in this map, neither are river and lake ice.

Source :  UN Environment Programme

Freshwater resources: volume by continent. Glaciers and ice caps cover about 10% of the world’s landmass. These are concentrated in Greenland and Antarctica and contain 70% of the world’s freshwater. Unfortunately, most of these resources are located far from human habitation and are not readily accessible for human use. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), 96% of the world’s frozen freshwater is at the South and North Poles, with the remaining 4% spread over 550,000 km2 of glaciers and mountainous icecaps measuring about 180,000 km3 (UNEP, 1992; Untersteiner, 1975; WGMS, 1998, 2002). Groundwater is by far the most abundant and readily available source of freshwater, followed by lakes, reservoirs, rivers and wetlands. Analysis indicates that: - Groundwater represents over 90% of the world’s readily available freshwater resource (Boswinkel, 2000). About 1.5 billion people depend upon groundwater for their drinking water supply (WRI, UNEP, UNDP, World Bank, 1998). - The amount of groundwater withdrawn annually is roughly estimated at 600-700 km3, representing about 20% of global water withdrawals (WMO, 1997). - A comprehensive picture of the quantity of groundwater withdrawn and consumed annually around the world does not exist. Most freshwater lakes are located at high altitudes, with nearly 50% of the world’s lakes located in Canada alone. Many lakes, especially those in arid regions, become salty through evaporation, which concentrates the inflowing salts. The Caspian Sea, the Dead Sea, and the Great Salt Lake are among the world’s major salt lakes. Rivers form a hydrologic mosaic, with an estimated 263 international river basins covering 45.3% (231,059,898 km2) of the earth’s land surface, excluding Antarctica (UNEP, Oregon State University et al., in preparation). The total volume of water in the world’s rivers is estimated at 2,115 km3 (Groombridge and Jenkins, 1998).

Source : UN Environment Programme

Total global saltwater and freshwater estimates. Estimates of global water resources based on several different calculation methods have produced varied estimates. This graphic illustrates the proportions of saltwater and freshwater that make up the earth's water resources. It also shows what percentage of the world's freshwater is located in lakes and river storage; in groundwater, including soil moisture, swamp water and permafrost, and in glaciers and permanent snow cover.

Source :  UN Environment Programme

Major river basins of the world. Rivers form a hydrological mosaic, with an estimated 263 international river basins covering 45.3% of the land surface area of the earth, excluding Antarctica. This graphic shows the locations of 26 of the world's major river basins. A basin is defined as the land area (watershed) where all surface water drains to a certain river.

]]> http://www.infographics.tk/major-river-basins-of-the-world/feed/ 0 http://www.infographics.tk/global-freshwater-withdrawal-in-the-year-2000/ http://www.infographics.tk/global-freshwater-withdrawal-in-the-year-2000/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:30:11 +0000 yucel http://www.infographics.tk/?p=1363

Source :  UN Environment Programme

Global freshwater withdrawal. World map showing annual levels of renewable water resources for the year 2000 measured in cubic meters. The use of water varies greatly from country to country and from region to region. 'Withdrawal' refers to water taken from a water source for use. It does not refer to water 'consumed' in that use.

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Link :   http://sehirrehberi.ibb.gov.tr

]]> http://www.infographics.tk/inca-trail/feed/ 0 http://www.infographics.tk/natural-resource-water-freshwater-run-off/ http://www.infographics.tk/natural-resource-water-freshwater-run-off/#comments Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:57:16 +0000 yucel http://www.infographics.tk/?p=1348

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Natural resource - water (freshwater run-off). Freshwater – a natural resource which has been adopted as a human right by the UN in 2002: 'the human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient; affordable; physically accessible; safe and acceptable water for personal and domestic uses'. People depend on this resource for drinking and cooking, for irrigation of farms, for hygiene and sanitation and for power generation. The map presenting this resource only focuses on one part of the geography of freshwater – other aspects are the groundwater resources of the world (including fossil water) and the water stored in soils, ice sheets and glaciers. For the 2.5 billion people living in low-income countries, agriculture is the most important sector by employment, and by far the largest user of water. Irrigated land currently produces 40% of the world’s food on 17% of the agricultural land. Hydro-electricity is the key power source of 26 Sub-Saharan countries, and for another 13 countries, it is the second main power source. The map is a part of a set, presenting different natural resources, with a focus on developing countries, and the use of natural resources for economic growth and poverty alleviation.

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The water cycle. Environment water transport system. The water cycle consists of precipitation, vapour transport, evaporation, evapo-transpiration, infiltration, groundwater flow and runoff. Figure 1 explains the global water cycle, illustrating how nearly 577,000 km3 of water circulates through the cycle each year. A table of estimated residence times shows the approximate times that water resources exist as biospheric water, atmospheric water and so on. The world’s surface water is affected by varying levels of precipitation, evaporation and runoff, in different regions. Figure 2 illustrates the different rates at which these processes affect the major regions of the world, and the resulting uneven distribution of freshwater. Water is transported in various forms within the hydrologic cycle. Shiklomanov in Gleick (1993) estimates that each year about 502,800 km3 of water evaporates over the oceans and seas, 90% of which (458,000 km3) returns directly to the oceans through precipitation, while the remainder (44,800 km3) falls over land.

With evapo-transpiration and evaporation totalling about 74,200 km3, the total volume in the terrestrial hydrologic cycle is about 119,000 km3. Around 35% of this, or 44,800 km3, is returned to the oceans as run-off from rivers, groundwater and glaciers. A considerable portion of river flow and groundwater percolation never reaches the ocean, having evaporated in internal runoff areas or inland basins which lack outlets to the ocean. However, some groundwater that bypasses the river systems reaches the oceans. Annually the hydrologic cycle circulates nearly 577,000 km3 of water (Gleick, 1993).

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Freshwater Stress 1995 and 2025. This graphic shows the amount of water withdrawal as a percentage of the total available supply, at the national level in 1995 and in 2025 (projected amounts). Overall, the percentages are expected to rise substantially by 2025. This resource also includes a graphic showing the number of people suffering from water stress and water scarcity worldwide in 1995, compared to projected rates for the year 2050. As the population continues to rise, the number of people affected by water stress and water scarcity is expected to rise sharply.

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]]> http://www.infographics.tk/high-cost-of-force-protection/feed/ 1 http://www.infographics.tk/all-the-news-2009/ http://www.infographics.tk/all-the-news-2009/#comments Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:52:16 +0000 yucel http://www.infographics.tk/?p=1332

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Have we hit rock bottom yet? How does unemployment compare, as we travel down the road towards global economic recovery.

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U.S. companies overall environmental scores are based on their Environmental Impact Score, Green Policies Score and Reputation Survey Score. Companies at the top scored in the 80s and 90s out of a hundred. Those at the bottom scored 30s and 40s.

2009 Green Rankings

1. Hewlett-Packard, score 100
2. Dell, score 98.87
3. Johnson & Johnson, score 98.56
4. Intel, score 98.14
5. IBM, score 94.08
6. State Street, score 93.62
7. Nike, score 93.28
8. Bristol-Meyers, score 92.62
9. Applied Materials, score 91.79
10. Starbucks, score 91.63

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You may have heard about this little thing called the iPad, yes? And how it can supposedly master some 140, 000 apps? It's true. But it's not the only app-licable (sorry, we'll stop soon) machine out there with a serious app-preciation (really soon) for apps. In fact, a pre-iPad study found that the app explosion is well underway, so much so that, as you can see in the above graphic, worldwide we will purchase, download and otherwise acquire an average of 20.1 apps for every smartphone sold this year. And it's not so much that our app-arent (done!) lust for apps will cool any time soon--it's just that smartphone sales will soon catch up. The "gold rush for developers" that is the iPad has only just begun.

Infographic: Rob Vargas

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Global human development indicators. Poverty is multidimensional. It varies in scale and context (political, social, cultural, ecological, historical, economic). The rural poor face different challenges from those in urban areas: they are concerned with natural resources (access, quality), whereas the urban poor care about access to energy, housing and sanitation, and about the quality and availability of water.

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Waste management choices in Europe. Not long ago the amount and composition of waste was such that it could be simply diluted and dispersed into the environment. Most items were reused and only a few remained, that would not decompose naturally. With industrialisation and rising urban density, a new concept followed: collect and dump out of sight. The aim was to eliminate waste or at least protect the population from it. This generally involved either openly burning it (still practised today in many countries, this is a major source of toxic gas emissions such as dioxins and furans) or dumping it on specially designated landfi ll sites.

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Number of flood events by continent and decade since 1950. Roughly 17% of all the urban land in the United States is located in the 100-year flood zone. Likewise, in Japan about 50% of the population lives on floodplains, which cover only 10% of the land area. In Bangladesh, the percentage of floodprone areas is much higher and inundation of more than half of the country is not uncommon.

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Solid waste management cost for selected cities. Sound waste management requires a high level of technology and a signif cant budget. What Japan and Germany can afford today, most countries will have to wait a long time for. Developed countries have a lot to learn from the recycling and reuse levels in developing countries.

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Urban water cycle. This graphic illustrates the impact of human activity on groundwater. It shows that groundwater is obtained from periurban wellfields and urban wells, then used and disposed of as wastewater through pluvial drainage, piped sewage and on-site sanitation and industrial effluent disposal. It also shows that wastewater is treated and then reused for irrigation, with excess flows re-entering the aquifers.

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]]> http://www.infographics.tk/h1n1-graphics-how-to-wash-your-hands/feed/ 0 http://www.infographics.tk/basketball-court/ http://www.infographics.tk/basketball-court/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:59:13 +0000 yucel http://www.infographics.tk/?p=1263

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