The Millennium Development Goal 3 address gender equality and empowerment of women. This map displays the status in 2001 of an indicator for target 4: 'Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015'. According to the data the situation needs to be addressed primarily in central Africa and West and Southern Asia.

Trends in development and urbanization show that the gaps between the rich and the poor is generally increasing world wide. This satellite image over Nairobi, Kenya highlights the location of golf courses and informal settlements (e.g. slums, squatters) and they are, in a few cases, next door to each other - highlighting the contrasts.

The Millennium Development Goals, originally devised in 2001 together with the Millennium Declaration, outline a set of reachable and realistic goals and targets. There are eight goals, addressing various areas of development, and each of these have one or several specific targets. Many of the targets have quantitative measures attached to them. The Millennium Project, a UN research initiative set up to evaluate the progress have rated the exist...

By looking more closely at the regions we can see that the situation in the world is quite diverse. This chart portrays the status of development with two important parameters, health and economy. Regions, like Sub-Saharan Africa or the Commonwealth of Independent States (former Soviet Republics) are quite spread out widely in the diagram, in both dimensions. Worth noting is the countries far from the imaginary line towards the top right corner....

This timeline, shaped as a subway map, takes a tongue-in-cheek look at international events in development and environment leading up to the Millennium Declaration, the 2005 World Summit and beyond, with a milestone set at 2015 (the year specified for the Millennium Development Goals).

This map locates the city of Malindi (population approximatly 150 000 inhabitants) in Kenya. The city is located on the Kenyan coast, on the Indian Ocean. The map also displays a world map for further reference, as well as other reference points, such as the location of Nairobi and Mombasa.

The urbanisation of the population has been happening since the first city, and is rapidly increasing in rate - especially since the dawn of industrialization. The Andean community consists out of five countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia - that are in the middle income class. The fast growing cities create new problems, like slums, sewage and the supply of resources.

The global average surface temperature has increased over the 20th century by about 0.6 degrees Celsius. This increase in temperature is likely to have been the largest for any century in the last 1000 years. Evidence from tree ring records, used to reconstruct temperatures over this period, suggests that the 1990s was the warmest period in a millennium. It is very likely that nearly all land areas will warm more rapidly than the global average, ...

The global average surface temperature has increased over the 20th century by about 0.6 degrees Celsius. This increase in temperature is likely to have been the largest for any century in the last 1000 years.

Shows the different levels of CO2 emissions from industrial processes and land use changes from different regions. The major greenhouse gases are included within six sectors: Energy; Industrial Processes; Solvent and Other Product Use; Agriculture; Land Use Change and Forestry; and Waste. Contributing to emissions Historically the developed countries of the world have emitted most of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases. The U.S. emits most in t...

As we can see from models of temperature changes caused by natural forcing, we should have observed a decrease in the global average temperature lately, but we have not. We have observed an increase. A climate model can be used to simulate the temperature changes that occur from both natural and anthropogenic causes. The simulations in a) were done with only natural forcings: solar variation and volcanic activity. In b) only anthropogenic forc...

Diagram showing four scenarios for the future each with different influences between market orientation and environmental, and regional and global. Then predictive charts show the scenarios in terms of emissions, concentrations and impacts of CO2 levels.

The Kyoto Protocol is only a first step towards combating climate change. Drastic reductions of greenhouse gas emissions are required to avoid the most threatening consequences of global warming. Concerns are raised that the price for the economy will be too high, but studies indicate that there will only be a small reduction in GDP to reach the Kyoto targets and that it is possible to stabilize the concentration of CO2 at low costs. The GDP los...

Chart showing the increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere from 1870 to 2004 and predicted levels to the year 2100. Historically the developed countries of the world have emitted most of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases. The U.S. emits most in total, and is one of the countries with highest emissions per capita. China is the second largest emitter, but has very low emissions per capita. Over the last 20 years, industrial development has led to...

Most people have heard about climate change, they might even express a real concern about it, but how many would actually consider it a threat? Because the changes can be slow and sometimes difficult to identify within the normal variation of climatic conditions, many of us think they will not affect our lives. However, some parts of the world are already being severely affected by climatic change – both the people and the environment. And unfort...

Global average GDP might be reduced by 1–4% if we reduce the emissions of CO2 so that we stabilize the concentration in the atmosphere at 450 ppmv. In 2003 the concentration was 375 ppmv. If we stabilise at higher concentration levels, the GDP reduction will be less. The projected mitigation scenarios do not take into account potential benefits of avoided climate change. Cost-effectiveness studies with a century time scale estimate that the mit...

Sensitivity is the degree to which a system is affected, either adversely or beneficially, by climate-related stimuli. Climate-related stimuli encompass all the elements of climate change, including mean climate characteristics, climate variability, and the frequency and magnitude of extremes. The effect may be direct (e.g., a change in crop yield in response to a change in the mean, range or variability of temperature) or indirect (e.g., damages...

The Arctic is often described as a place of utter darkness or white snow in winter and of midnight sun during the summertime. In fact, there are few places on Earth where the sun displays so much variation in colour due to the low angle of the sun reflected on the mountains, snow and sky over long periods of time. North of the Arctic Circle the sun disappears during winter for days to months, depending upon latitude, leaving the sky in a palette ...

Bird species that migrate to the Arctic coasts and wetlands arrive from nearly every corner of the planet. During the summer, the sun never or nearly never sets, resulting in a short but intensive breeding season when millions of migratory birds arrive in the Arctic to breed. The majority of these birds seek the wetlands and coastal shores of the tundra plains. No other place on Earth receives so many migratory species from nearly all corners of...

Climate change is expected to cause a rise in sea level. Sea level rise will have a significant impact on coastal areas, especially coastal megacities such as Banjul, the Gambia. This graphic shows the expected sea level rise in metres for various parts of the city of Banjul, and the impacts of sea level rise on the city, its suburbs and main roads and its nearby mangrove swamps, which serve as spawning grounds for fish.