EarthTrends: The Environmental Information Portal
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Frequently Asked Questions:

Who runs EarthTrends?

sEarthTrends is a major initiative of the World Resources Institute (www.wri.org) in Washington DC. The EarthTrends team is comprised of a small, dedicated group of associates, research analysts, research assistants, and interns. The EarthTrends team is responsible for updating variables, providing new content, and maintaining and enhancing the functionality of the site. For more information please see http://earthtrends.wri.org/miscell/contact.php?theme=0. If you have questions or would like to provide comments or suggestions regarding the EarthTrends website, please feel free to contact us at earthtrends@wri.org.

Who uses EarthTrends?

EarthTrends' registered users are from nearly 200 countries and territories. Our users are affiliated with a wide range of organizations, including schools, universities, research institutions, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, government agencies, bilateral and multilateral development organizations, and the media. EarthTrends' information and content are being used in diverse and important ways: in lesson plans and classroom lectures, for briefing or lobbying policy-makers, within business planning initiatives, as supporting materials in a wide range of reports and publications, and for general environmental and socio-economic knowledge interests. We are always excited to hear how EarthTrends users are applying the information and content found on our website; please let us know by writing to earthtrends@wri.org.

Am I allowed to reproduce the content (data, maps, tables, etc.) I find on EarthTrends?

EarthTrends content is licensed under a Creative Commons license. We have opted to use what's called the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license; please see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/. This means that anyone is free to use, modify, and share any of our information products so long as EarthTrends is acknowledged as the source and the content is used for non-commercial purposes. This license applies to our data products, such as maps and country profiles, and applies to any content on EarthTrends pages with a Creative Commons logo in the footer (such as this one). The data found in our searchable database, for which WRI does not hold a copyright, are free for anyone to use without mentioning EarthTrends -- though we always appreciate recognition.The following is a proper citation for EarthTrends:

World Resources Institute. 2006. EarthTrends: Environmental Information. Available at http://earthtrends.wri.org. Washington, D.C.: World Resources Institute.

When referencing a specific variable taken from the searchable database, consider adding the original source after citing the World Resources Institute.

Note regarding commercial uses of EarthTrends content:
EarthTrends often supports commercial products based on our work; please contact us directly to discuss the use of EarthTrends materials in commercial endeavors.

Note regarding maps:
If you would like to reproduce maps, obtain higher-resolution images, or have questions regarding the GIS data used in constructing the maps on EarthTrends, please contact GIS lab manager Susan Minnemeyer via email at susanm@wri.org.

I can't seem to register/log-in. I have already registered or registered in the past, but I keep receiving error messages saying that my email does not match the database. How do I fix this problem?

The easiest solution to this problem is to clear out your browser 'cookies.' This can be done in an Internet Explorer web browser by selecting 'Internet Options' from the 'Tools' menu or in a Mozilla/Firefox browser by selecting 'Options' and then 'Privacy' from the sidebar under the 'Tools' menu. You should then be able to reregister with your correct email address and access site content. If the problem still persists, please contact us at earthtrends@wri.org and we will assist you.

In what types of file formats can I download the data on EarthTrends?

EarthTrends information comes in a variety of ready-to-download file formats. On our graphics site, variables within the searchable database are downloadable as .csv (Microsoft Excel compatible) files. Other content (country profiles, data tables, maps, and feature articles) are available for download in .pdf form (which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader; this program is available for free, on-line at http://www.adobe.com). On the text-only version of the EarthTrends website (http://earthtrends.wri.org/text/) all of our content is also available in .html format. Additionally, data tables on the text-only site can be downloaded in .html, .pdf, or .xls (Excel) formats.

How often are data on EarthTrends updated?

The EarthTrends team works to update each of the 600+ variables within the EarthTrends searchable database shortly after our data sources/providers release revised versions of their data sets. Some data are updated and released by our providers on an annual basis, while other data sets are updated much more infrequently. Due to staffing constraints, however, timely data updates are not always possible. If you check the original source of one of our data sets and find more recent data than we currently have on our website, please let us know! Data tables are typically updated in conjunction with WRI's World Resources report. Country profiles are typically updated every two years. Maps and feature articles are not updated; the collections are simply expanded.

Is there any place that I can find all of the EarthTrends content related to a particular topic?

Perform a simple search using the search box in the upper-right-hand corner of the EarthTrends home page to retrieve a list of all EarthTrends' content related to search terms (e.g., poverty, population, climate). Alternatively, EarthTrends has a series of 'information guides' which highlight content of interest in the areas of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, Financial Flows, Sustainable Business, Climate, Protected Areas, and Transportation; these are available on-line as .pdf documents at http://earthtrends.wri.org/miscell/infoguides.php?theme=0.

Can I find sub-national, county-, province-, or city-level data in the EarthTrends searchable database?

No. Our searchable database contains country-level statistics for more than 600 variables, along with regional totals calculated by WRI and global totals (typically) reproduced from our data providers. We do have limited data available at the city-level and for specific watersheds in two of EarthTrends' data tables: "Transportation: Selected City Level Indicators" and "Watersheds of the World." In addition, our Poverty Resource Special Collection (http://earthtrends.wri.org/povlinks/) contains sub-national poverty maps and indicators for many countries. In the future, we hope to enhance our database to include more of these types of data.

I would like to download multiple datasets from the searchable database on EarthTrends. Can I make queries for a number of datasets simultaneously or do I need to query each variable one at a time?

At present, datasets can only be downloaded from the EarthTrends site one at a time. We are hoping to integrate a multi-query and multi-download feature into our website in the coming months.

Why don't the numbers on your website agree with national estimates posted by my country's government?

Most of the data on EarthTrends are obtained from sources that synthesize national statistics into collections of data for many countries. International collections frequently harmonize national statistics so that users of the data can compare one country to another. In other cases, international sources have a different set of experts analyzing information to develop a specific data point. While national estimates can in many cases be more accurate than international estimates, our site continues to report mostly internationally comparable statistics for the sake of consistency. Please contact us, however, if you do not agree with any of the data reported on EarthTrends e-mail (earthtrends@wri.org). We are very interested in exploring this issue further as our site evolves.

I can't find what I'm looking for on EarthTrends, what should I do now?

We realize our site has LOTS of information on it, which can, at times, be overwhelming. If you think we should have a data set that you can't seem to find, email us (earthtrends@wri.org) and make sure we really do not have the data in our collection. If we do not have the data that you're seeking, we may be able to suggest other places to look for it. Alternatively, check with the original data source (sources are listed in each 'Technical Notes' document) for a similar variable. It is possible the data you are looking for is available on the web sites of our data providers and we have simply not included it on EarthTrends.