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Environment

Our Nation's environment -- the air, water, soil, and plant and animal life -- is constantly changing as natural processes and human actions affect it.

USGS activities in the environment theme area include studies of natural physical, chemical, and biological processes, and of the results of human actions; the goal is to provide the understanding and scientific information needed to recognize and mitigate adverse impacts and to sustain the environment. Activities include data collection, long-term assessments, ecosystem analysis, predictive modeling, and process research on the occurrence, distribution, transport, and fate of contaminants as well as the impacts of contaminants on biota.

Recent Highlights: Environment

• Anthropogenic and Natural Contaminants
  • Acid Rain and Atmospheric Deposition
  • An Environmental and Geological Bibliography for Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana
  • Chesapeake Bay: Measuring Pollution Reduction
  • Contaminant Transport in Massachusetts Bay
  • Digital Shorelines for Boston Harbor
  • Environmental and Contaminants Research Center
  • Environmental Geochemistry and Sediment Quality in Lake Pontchartrain
  • National Irrigation Water Quality Program
  • National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA)
  • National Water Quality Laboratory
  • Organic Geochemistry Research Lab WRD Kansas District
  • Pollution and Waste Disposal, Western Region Marine and Coastal Surveys
  • Southeast Michigan Drinking Water Initiative
  • The Summitville Mine And Its Downstream Effects
  • Toxic Substances Hydrology Program
  
  
  
• Ecosystems and Management
  • Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Initiative
  • Access USGS Chesapeake Bay Region
  • Access USGS San Francisco Bay and Delta
  • Africa Data Dissemination Service
  • Arctic Environmental Data Directory (AEDD)
  • Environmental Quality and Preservation Western Marine and Coastal Surveys
  • Gap Analysis Program -- A Geographic Approach to Planning for Biological Diversity
  • Global Resource Information Database United Nations Environment Programme
  • Greater Horn of Africa
  • SAST Database: Environmental Information System for the Upper Mississippi and Lower Missouri River Basins.
  • Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project
  • South Florida Ecosystem Program
  • The Platte River Program
  • The Stellwagen Bank Information System
  • Tracking Environmental Change in West Africa
  
  
  
• Energy and the Environment
  • Environmental Impact of Coal Utilization
  • Geochemical Characterization of Coal Bearing Strata
  • Microbial Controls and Spectral Reflectance of Acid Mine Drainage
  • National Coal Quality Inventory/Database (NCQI)
  
  
  
• Environment and Human Health
  • Radon in Earth, Air, and Water
  
  
  
• Global Change
  • Arctic Land Characterization
  • Earth Surface Dynamics
  • Global Change Master Directory NASA
  • Global Change Research Program
  • Lake Baikal - A Touchstone for Global Change and Rift Studies
  • USGS Carbon Cycle Research
  
  
  
• Policy and Guidance
  • Environmental Affairs Program (EAP)
  • Environmental Impact Analysis Data Links
  • National Environmental Information Resources Center
  • "NEPA Net" Council on Environmental Quality Guidance and Information
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Environment-Related Fact Sheets

Hazards || Natural Resources || Environment || Information Management