Finding Environmental Statistics III

The student may hunt down all the sources we have recommended, and return with thanks:

Those United Nations websites were especially helpful — are there any more of them I might not yet know about?

We might advise:

Try the United Nations Statistics Division – Environment Statistics Section.

The website notes:

Environment Glossary

The UNSD Glossary of Environment Statistics which was published in 1997, is a quick reference tool for terms and definitions relevant to environmental data production and use. It covers the areas of environment statistics, environmental and sustainable development indicators, and environmental accounting. In selecting the terms, the focus has been on the requirements of environmental statisticians and environmental accountants, with some reference to the possible use of environmental data in management and policy analysis. While catering to the needs of data producers, the glossary might thus also be useful for data users.

An updated web version was produced in 2001 and was based on the UNSD Glossary on Environment Statistics and the glossary contained in the Handbook of National Accounting: Integrated Environmental Accounting – An Operational Manual which was published in 2000.

The site includes environmental indicators.

The student may interrupt and ask:

Are there any more?

Our reply:

There is also the United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre which describes itself as a

world leader in biodiversity knowledge. It works with scientists and policy makers worldwide to place biodiversity at the heart of environment and development decision-making to enable enlightened choices for people and the planet.

It includes links to datasets, tools, and reports on topics such as biodiversity, climate change, marine assessment, and species.

If the student inquires:

Any more?

We can point the student in the direction of the World Bank Open Data initiative, meant to provide free and open access to global development data. The World Bank features

World Development Indicators and Millenium Development Goals, including environmental factors, as well as a Little Green Data Book.

This is is a pocket-sized reference on environmental data for over 200 countries. Key indicators are organized under the headings of agriculture, forestry, biodiversity, oceans, energy, emission and pollution, and water and sanitation. The volume helps establish a base of information to help set priorities and measure progress toward environmental sustainability goals.

Another possibility is the World Health Organization (WHO), which has webpages on quantifying environmental health impacts as well as public health, environmental and social determinants of health.

The student may ask:

How can I be sure that the information on these websites is up to date?

Our reply might be:

Most public agencies will include publication information and other relevant dates in the website content. For example, in the lower right hand corner of the WHO website we will see the copyright notice:

© 2020 WHO

This suggests that the information was posted in 2020. In other websites containing articles, it may be possible to tell the date that the information was published from the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or web address, which may contain a month and year. For example, the URL may look something like this:

https://www.thailandenvironmentalstatistics.com/2019/10/amount-of-air-pollution-infographic.html

From this, we may assume that the article on the webpage in question was published in October 2019.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)