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The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation's activities integrate scientific research, education, and outreach so that people, themselves major catalysts in the rapid loss of biodiversity, will become participants in its conservation. Studying the immense variety of life on the planet and the complex relations among living things-what we now call biodiversity-has been a fundamental activity of the American Museum of Natural History since its founding. In 1993, responding to concern among its scientists over rapid species loss and increasing environmental degradation around the world, the Museum created the interdisciplinary Center for Biodiversity and Conservation.
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The Center for Health Applications of Aerospace Related Technologies (CHAART) is part of the Ecosystem Science and Technology (ECOSAT) Branch of the Earth Science Division at the NASA Ames Research Center. CHAART was established, and funded through 2004, by NASA's Life Sciences Division, which became the Fundamental Space Biology Division, within the Biological & Physical Research Enterprise at NASA Headquarters. CHAART's role was to support the science, application, education, and technology development goals and objectives of the Agency. The establishment of CHAART was consistent with the Agency's desire to make NASA technologies more readily available to the widest possible user community.
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Biodiversity, through the provision of ecosystem goods and services, provides the basis for all life on earth. This includes the support base for all of our economic and social activities, for fiscal development, social welfare, and health. Species of animals and plants have always been important as sources of food, fuels, medicines, clothing and building materials, while ecosystems provide and maintain supplies of clean water, healthy soil and clean air. However, this is frequently taken for granted in an increasingly developed and globalised world.
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By linking biology, ecology and social sciences, DIVERSITAS produces socially relevant new knowledge to support sustainable use of biodiversity.
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This site describes the science objectives, research activities, and accomplishments of the Ecological Research Program in EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) to advance ecosystem services research and improve knowledge to protect, and restore the services of nature. Ecosystem services are the many life-sustaining benefits we receive from nature--clean air and water, fertile soil for crop production, pollination, and flood control. These ecosystem services are important to our health and well-being, yet they are limited and often taken for granted as being free.
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The intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is leading a worldwide effort to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) over the next 10 years. GEOSS will work with and build upon existing national, regional, and international systems to provide comprehensive, coordinated Earth observations from thousands of instruments worldwide, transforming the data they collect into vital information for society.
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The last few decades have seen rapid species extinction and habitat loss, leading to significant changes in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. The international community began negotiating the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to address these ecological changes. CBD negotiations were completed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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The Smithsonian Institution's Monitoring and Assessment of Biodiversity Program (formerly the Man and the Biosphere Program) has been working to fulfill its mission since 1986. MAB works internationally with governments, industries, academia, nongovernmental organizations, local communities, and others to assess and monitor the biodiversity in their regions. Through an integrated approach of research and training, MAB provides scientific information and builds in-country capacity to foster the sustainable use of natural resources.
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USAID's biodiversity conservation activities not only protect the environment in developing countries but also have significant economic value to the United States. The extinction of each additional species results in the irreversible loss of unique genetic materials, each of which has potential for development of medicines and foods and associated enterprises that create jobs. As natural systems breakdown, people around the world are forced to find alternative and often more costly ways to maintain adequate supplies of clean water or to deal with increasingly polluted air. The net economic benefits of biodiversity are estimated to be at least $3 trillion per year, or 11 percent of the annual world economic output.
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This site, sponsored by the US Department of State includes numerous publications and essays on a variety of subjects related to biodiversity. The information contained in this site is intended to "make it clear that the future of the human endeavor is linked now, as in the past, with the natural world. Many observers now feel that one of the prime responsibilities of human community, for spiritual, aesthetic, and extremely pragmatic reasons, must be to take steps to preserve biological diversity for future generations, before the richness of life on this planet is diminished forever."
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The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. The Biodiversity Homepage includes three subsections including: Ecosystem Diversity, Genetic Diversity & Species Diversity.
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Large-scale and global environmental hazards to human health include climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, loss of biodiversity, changes in hydrological systems and the supplies of freshwater, land degradation and stresses on food-producing systems.
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