This graphic shows the changes in water supply and wastewater disposal that occur through four stages of growth of a settlement: early settlement; the town becomes a city; the city expands and the city expands further. The changes include increased groundwater pollution and changes in pluvial drainage, the water table and wellfields.

The DPSIR framework (Driving Forces-Pressures-State-Impacts-Responses) is used to assess and manage environmental problems. Driving forces are the socio-economic and socio-cultural forces driving human activities, which increase or mitigate pressures on the environment. Pressures are the stresses that human activities place on the environment. State, or state of the environment, is the condition of the environment. Impacts are the effects of envi...

This graphic makes it possible to compare water use by the agricultural, industrial and domestic sectors at the national level. The graphic indicates which sectors are the dominant and significant users of water in each country.

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.

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.

The Barents Region is in the Arctic and covers the area of Western Russia and the northern areas of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The Barents Sea has anaverage depth 230 m, bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of Svalbard (Norway) in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya (Russia) in the northeast and east.

The Republic of Fiji is a small island country in the South Pacific Ocean. The country has a population of 850 000 people spread out over an archipelago of islands. The largest ones, Viti Levu and Vanua Leva houses the majority of the inhabitants.

The Barents region is in the Arctic and covers the area of Western Russia and the northern areas of Finland, Sweden and Norway. The Barents Sea has an average depth 230 m, bordered by the shelf edge towards the Norwegian Sea in the west, the island of Svalbard (Norway) in the northwest, and the islands of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya (Russia) in the northeast and east. (Please note that the The Barents Euro-Arctic Council has expanded the m...

Tajikistan is located in Central Asia, west of China, comprising of 143,100 sq km. It has a population of 7,163,506 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: inadequate sanitation facilities; increasing levels of soil salinity; industrial pollution; excessive pesticides.

The Arctic is extremely diverse in terms of landscapes, varying from pack and drift ice to rugged shores, flat coastal plains, rolling hills and mountains surpassing 6000 metres above sea level (Denali, 6,194 m asl, in sub-arctic and boreal Alaska). The region has rivers and lakes, tundra and the largest forests in the world (the Russian Taiga).

The continental shelves, ridges and sea mounts are the most productive areas in terms of biodiversity, and is of highest importance for economic activities. It is also here that natural resources extraction - such as oil and gas - takes place. The largest expanses of ocean are vast plains of depths between 1500-5000 meters. The deepest areas are the trenches where the continental plates meet, such as the Marian Trench of the Pacific.

Tanzania case study, locator map

Russian Federation is located in Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is included with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North Pacific Ocean, comprising of 17,075,200 sq km. It has a population of 143,420,309 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: air pollution from heavy industry, emissions of coal-fired electric plants, and transportation in major cities; industrial, municipal, and agricultural pollution of in...

The Arctic represents the northermost area of the World, the Arctic Ocean and the land areas that surrounds it. The region is characterized but cold temperatures, and ice and snow. The summers are short, but with long periods of daylight (midnight sun). The winters are long and cold and with periods with no sun (polar night). The Arctic Ocean is one basin that is mostly covered by sea ice, and is connected to the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The ...

Overview of the western African country of Ghana, with topography and major cities, as well as lakes and rivers. Ghana is inhabitaed by 21 million people, and the capital is Accra, on the Atlantic coast. Environmental issues, according to the CIA factbook, are: recurrent drought in north severely affects agricultural activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; poaching and habitat destruction threatens wildlife populations; water pollut...

Poland is located in Central Europe, east of Germany, comprising of 312,685 sq km. It has a population of 38,635,144 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: air pollution is serious because of sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, and the resulting acid rain has caused forest damage; water pollution from industrial and municipal sources is also a problem, as is disposal of hazardous wastes; pollution levels should continue to d...

Turkmenistan is located in Central Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Kazakhstan, comprising of 488,100 sq km. It has a population of 4,952,081 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: contamination of soil and groundwater with agricultural chemicals, pesticides; salination, water-logging of soil due to poor irrigation methods; Caspian Sea pollution; diversion of a large share of the flow of the Amu Darya into irrigation contribut...

(See http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/arctic-topography-and-bathymetry1 for an updated version of this map) The Arctic is extremely diverse in terms of landscapes, varying from pack and drift ice to rugged shores, flat coastal plains, rolling hills and mountains surpassing 6000 metres above sea level (Denali, 6,194 m asl, in sub-arctic and boreal Alaska). The region has rivers and lakes, tundra and the largest forests in the world (the Russian Tai...

Moldova is located in Eastern Europe, northeast of Romania, comprising of 33,843 sq km. It has a population of 4,455,421 (2005). Major environmental concerns are: heavy use of agricultural chemicals, including banned pesticides such as DDT, has contaminated soil and groundwater; extensive soil erosion from poor farming methods.

South Ossetia - environmental headlines (topographic and political map. The basemap is complemented with textual information on 'environmental headlines'which are the preliminary results of a desk assessment conducted by GRID-Arendal under the ENVSEC initiative (UNEP; OSCE; NATO; UNDP; UNECE; REC)