On August 3 the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in America launched an interactive map showing US citizens how climate change could affect their health past on existing data.

The NRDC is a not-for- profit organization based in the United States and describes itself as an ‘ environmental action group' it has an estimated 1.3 million supporters around the world and offices throughout the United States and in Beijing, China.

On August 3 the organization launched a map, available via their website, which predicts the affects of climate change on areas of the USA. Users of the map can zoom into states or areas and see the likely hood of specific threats to health, flooding, drought, air pollution, extreme heat and infectious diseases for example, occurring in that region.



Online mapping is increasingly being used to track environmental changes and pollution levels by scientists and members of the public alike.

This trend can be seen by Google's unveiling of the ‘Google Earth Engine' at COP 16 in 2010, which allows scientists to monitor changes in the environment using Google's satellite imagery ; and the EU funded INTAMAP project which allows members of the public to monitor air pollution levels in their area.