• The Office of Response and Restoration of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) maintains an instructive ChemAids page. ChemAids provides access to a database of information on the chemical consequences of a disaster such as a derailment. It also has an informative problem set.

• TOXNET maintained by the National Laboratory of Medicine is the gateway to a comprehensive system of databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and related areas. This should be your first stop in finding information on the toxic properties of a substance. The full records are very comprehensive and include information on physical and chemical properties as well as safe use and disposal. The HSDB database is a good place to start if you require quantitative data.

  A good place to start in a search of the massive government databases is NIH's SIS. Links are provided to the Specialized Information System. In starting to use the system, search by chemical name and CAS Registry Number.

• ECOTOX is an extensive database prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency and contains quantitative data on the impact of toxic substances on aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Searching for data is expedited if you have the CAS number for the toxic substance. DSSTox, a new site from the EPA, is an attempt to provide access to a wide range of databases with a standard format. TOXNET is a resource of the National Library of Medicine. It provides a searchable access to a range of databases. If you know the CAS number, provide it.

  A related EPAS resource is the IRIS Tracer that allows one to follow EPA assessments of hazardous substances.

  Tox Town is an interactive Website devoted to toxic substances and is maintained by the National Library of Medicine. It is oriented to the general public and a Macromedia Flash player must be installed in order to view its entertaining graphics.

  MAPPING OF CONCENTRATIONS OF TOXIC SUBSTANCES
  Emissions of substances are tracked by two government agencies. EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) provides information on toxic substances. The European Union's European Polutant Emission Register (EPER) covers both toxic materials and greenhouse gases. TOXMAP, a site of the National Library of Medicine, provides a cartographical presentation of emissions of more than 650 hazardous chemicals into the environment. The Web site uses data from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory. Geodata is another US government site that allows one to plot a host of environmental data such as outbreaks of toxic algae.The Global Data Portal is a corresponding UN Web site that provides access to data on more than 450 economic and ecological variables including toxic emissions. The National Atmospheric Deposition Program, associated with the Illinois State Water Survey, provides data and maps of species associated with the hydrosphere and the atmosphere. David Baker, professor emeritus at Heidelberg College, maintains the Ohio Tributary Loading Program, a source of concentrations of many species inb Ohio watersheds. The HEI Air Quality Database provides information on gaseous pollutants at or near EPA air monitoring stations. Carbontracker, a product of the Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases Group at NOAA, provides data on the concentration of carbon dioxide at 60 locations on the planet.

• The Chemical Reactivity Worksheet, a source of information on the reactivity of substances, can be downloaded from NOAA. The Web site has other information on chemical combinations that can lead to serious accidents.

• The Instant Chemical Hazards and Safety database is another source of data on toxic chemicals. The database is small now but is growing. The information on the compounds in the database is extensive. The inclusion of LD50's and other quantitative measures of toxicity is noteworthy.

• Another good place to turn for quantitative data, e.g. LD50's, on toxic substances is the SIRI (Safety Information Resources, Inc.) database.

• A very comprehensive database on pesticides is provided by a Jinno Laboratory The database includes spectra, structures, chemical and physical properties, and toxicological data.

• Chemical Backgrounds is a Web site that provides informative essays on more than 100 chemicals that have an effect on the health. Each essay addresses the properties and pharmacology of the substance.

• MSDS Solutions is a comprehensive Web database of MSDS data sheets. You have to registrer to use the database but there is not fee for the registration.

• The Carcinogenic Potency Database is maintained by pioneer Bruce Ames at the University of California-Berkeley. Its data on thousands of compounds are drawn from animal tests.

• The Biocatalysis/Biodegradation Database at the University of Minnesota (UM-BBD) is organized around enzyme-catalyzed reactions for the degradation of industrial chemicals. The site provides links to a large number of very useful databases.

• Leeds University maintains Tropospheric Chemistry Modelling, a site that provides data on the fate of species in the troposphere. Extensive kinetic data including rate constants are provided.

• The Environmental Science Center of Syracuse Research Corporation has generously made available the Environmental Fate Data Bases (EFDB). These databases include DATALOG, a biobliographic file; BIOLOG, sources of microbial toxicity and biodegradation; CHEMFATE, rate data for degradation of compounds in the environment plus physical properties; and BIODEG, experimental data from biodegradation studies. The Web site alsdo includes TSCATS, a database on toxic properties; KOW, a database of octanol-water partition coefficients; and a database on compounds involved in global warming and stratospheric ozone.

• PBT Profiler is an online tool for predicting the persistence, bioaccumulation potential, and toxicity of PBT chemicals such as dioxins.

• The Center for Environmental Kinetics Analysis at Pennsylvania State University hosts ChemXseer, an on-line digital library and database with an emphasis on the kinetics of substances found in the environment.

• Mapping
  • The National Atlas of the United States of America is a comprehensive effort of the U.S. Geological Survey to provide Web access to a diverse array of geographical information. The USGS is in the early stages of developing its online National Map program which when completed will surpass in quality and content its series of topographic maps. The USGS National Map Viewer is a useful tool towards that end.
  • Terraserver is a collaborative project of Microsoft Corp. and the USGS. Its library of topo maps and aerial photographs covers the entire country.
  • The Map Machine of the National Geographic Society provides for much of the world satellite pictures and highway maps that can be enhanced with geophysical and demographical information such as the location earthquake faults.
  • This Cornell University site allows you to make a digital map with the details that you select. Some of the site's own maps are interactive.
  • The ESRI WWW site will allow you to download a USGS topo map of any area of the country. You require the longitude and latitude of the location in order to access the map.
  • The Topozone Web site provides topographic maps for any area of the country. The site is equipped with a versatile gazeteer.
  • The University of Colorado maintains the Resources for Geographers Web site which functions as a guide through the maze of resources in geography and cartography. The site includes links to the USGS Geographical Names site.
  • A site maintained by the library at the University of Arkansas is a Web guite to GIS resources covering a broad range of disciplines.
  • Check out Google Earth. You will be able to download freeware from the site that allows one access to detailed aearial pictures covering the entire globe. Amazon is in the process of releasing a service that provides street maps for the entire country that will be accompanied by photographs.
  • The US NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) maintains a number of sites that provide information on the weather.
    • home page for NOAA
    • National Weather Service, weather patterns and forecasts
    • Department of Commerce weather page
    • OSEI (Operational Significant Event Imagery Team)
    • GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Project)
    • For extreme weather conditions, consult a special Web site from the National Climatic Data Center.
    • Wildfires have become a major problem. the GEOMAC USGS site tracks the status of major fires such the the Williams Fires in the National Angeles Forest.
  • NASA maintains this IMS (Information Management System) as access to a master catalogue to DAAC's (Distributed Active Archive Centers) of EOS (Earth Observing System) data. There is a fee if you wish to order a particular dataset.

    The following agencies participate in the EOS program:

    • EROS Data Center, land features (Landsat images) and processes
    • Goddard Space Flight Center, upper atmosphere, atmospheric dynamics, and global biosphere
    • Related is the PM_ESIP (Passive Microwave Earth Science Information Project) that assembles global maps of surface temperature, wind speed, and precipitation from microwave data.
    • Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Ocean Circulation and Air-Sea Interaction
    • Alaska SAR Facility, sea ice and polar processes
    • NWIS, data on hydrology from the USGS
    • Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, human interactions in global change
    • Global Hydrology Resource Center, global hydrology
    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory, biogeochemical dynamics
    • National Snow and Ice Data Center, polar processes, cryosphere, and climate
    • Langley Research Center, radiation budget, clouds, aerosols, and tropospheric chemistry
    • Directory of Earth Science Data Sets
  • The National Oceanographic Data Center is a clearing house for data relating to the ocean.
  • The Naval Research Laboratory maintains a Web site for its NLOM (Layered Ocean Model) project which provides 30-day forecasts of ocean hehavior.
  • The Space Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison maintains a large collection satellite images that provides a wealth of information on meteorology and geology.
  • The National Earthquake Information Center of the US Geological Survey provides up-to-date information about earthquakes throughout the globe. A mirror site is also available.
  • Data on earthquakes in California that are collected by Caltech, the USGS, and the California Divison of Mines and Geology are provided by the Trinet Web site. Check this site for a map of intensity for each earthquake.
  • WorldWatcher was developed by researchers of the Supportive Scientific Visualization Environments for Education (SSciVEE) project at Northwestern University. The Website contains downloadable software and associated data related to environmental studies. Classroom projects using the software are suggested.
  • The Flood Observatory at Dartmouth College maintains a site dedicated to floods.
  • The Web site of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado provides more than 400 data sets tied to ice and snow but other aspects of hydrology as well.
  • William Bowen provides a collection of 500 computer-generated aerial images of terrestrial landscapes in his geogdata site. The Jules Map Server hosted by UNAVCO generates maps of

• Several sites have developed visualization and mapping tools for displaying data associated with pollution. Start with a cache of graphics from the United Nations' Environmental Programme. The OMI site in the Netherlands emphasizes ozone but monitors other pollutants as well. Worldmapper employs a clever approach. The size of each country on the maps is scaled according to the property being displayed.

• The EPA maintains an excellent Web site dedicated to the stratospheric ozone problem. A NASA site provides additional data and focuses on the ozone hole. Data can also be found at a companion NASA site, Ozone Hole Watch.

• The Stratospheric Ozone and Human Health site is maintained by CIESIN (Center for International Information Network) at Columbia University through its Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). The site includes useful figures such as a map of UV flux over the globe.

• The Oxygenated Fuels Association presents its case for the use of oxygenated fuels such as MTBE in controlling air pollution. Some useful chemical information can be found in the Technical Library. The Web site emphasizes public policy issues.

• NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) is a comprehensive set of links to satellite and ground-based datasets relating to the atmosphere, the biosphere, and the hydrosphere. This is the best site for information on changes in the global environment.

• The Environmental Estrogens Web page maintained by the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities provides information on the environmental effects of estrogens and mimics of estrogens.

• Arsenic presents a serious environmental problem. Richard Wilson at Harvard manages The Arsenic Website Project, a source of information on arsenic.

• Environmine provides an informative page on Acid Mine Drainage.

• Light pollution might not have dire consequences for health but it can be devastating for the practice of optical astronomy. This Web site has information on the problem that includes maps.

• The report of the Heinz Foundation on The State of the Nations Ecosystems is now available online.

• The Web page of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a gold mine of information on changes in the climate. The report of the UN Millennium Project summarizes the findings of several task forces. Reports of the panel are available. The IPCC Data distribution Centre has its own site. A companion Web site also dedicated to data on the climate is maintained by the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction at Columbia University. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) maintains the Compendium of Data on Global Change which provides scores of data sets. The Climate Change site maitained by the UN is a good portal for information. This site provides applets for modeling the climate. The US National Snow and Ice Data Center provides a gallery of pictures of glaciers taken over long periods. These pictures provide a measure of global warming. A comparable Canadian source is the State of the Canadian Cryosphere. Informative reports on temperature trends can be found at the Web site of the US Climate Change Science Program. NOAA maintains a page on the climate swings associated with el Nino and la Nina. The National Snow and Ice Data Center has assembled of gallery of photographs of glaciers that document their retreat with time. The 2030 Research Center provides in its Web site very striking computer simulations of the a consequence of global warming. The graphics predict the consequences of a rise in the sea level for selected cities.

• Patterns of below-normal precipitation present a related environmental problem. The Dought Monitor maintained by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln provides a unfiied set of links to government and private data related to precipitation.

• The US EPA has a site dedicated to Green Chemistry. The site includes access to the software tool GCES, Green Chemistry Expert System.

• Serious accidents are an unfortunate fact of life in science and technology. The Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center and the governmental Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board have Web sites with reports on accidents and their causes. The discussion of some chemicals is sobering.

• Emissions of substances are tracked by two government agencies. EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) provides information on toxic substances. The European Union's European Polutant Emission Register (EPER) covers both toxic materials and greenhouse gases.

• Environmental Media Services hosts Realclimate, a site devoted to global warming. The site was developed to counter industrial-supported sites such as CO2science. The opportunity to participate in modeling calculations and a discussion of the theory underlying models for global warming are provided by the Climate Prediction site.

• NREL, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, sponsors a comprehensive Web page dedicated to renewable energy. The data were backed up by informative maps and a library of photos illustrating approaches throughout the world.

• Los Alamos National Laboratory provides Fuel Cells, Green Power a 33-page document in pdf format describing the technology. HyWeb is a site in German and English that emphasizes the use of hydrogen in fuel cells. Fuel Cells 2000, a third site, is provided in English and Spanish by the Online Fuel Cells Information Center. The Hydride-Metal Related Data Base is maintained by Sandia. DOE's EERE also has its Web site dedicated to hydrogen and fuel cells.

• The Radiation and Health Physics Page, maintained by students at the University of Michigan, is a comprehensive set of primers and tools on the effects of radiation.

• The Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues is an online bibliography to informaiton related to nuclear energy. Scientific Digital Visions provides a dictionary of 1000 terms used in nuclear science including measures of radiation damage.

• The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN) site of the US Department of Energy has links for information related to the mission of the project.

• The Danish Wind Industry Association sponsors the Windpower Wev site that is dedicated to all apsects of windpower.

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last changed, 12 June 2008