The UNEP has added another to its panoply of resources: The Global Resource Information Database (GRID) has been developed by the USGS EROS Data Center and Google Maps by employing remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and online mapping tools to create this free resource for use of geographers, political scientists, environmental researchers and policy decision-makers. “The atlas highlights sites around the world that have witnessed such dramatic environmental changes as glacial melt, desertification, deforestation, pollution, and population growth.”

Source: “Best Free Reference Websites, Ninth Annual List”, Reference & User Services Quarterly, Vol. 47(1), Fall, 2007.

There are several related regional nodes or access points.
http://www.grida.no/,
http://www.grid.unep.ch/,
http://www.na.unep.net/unep-atlas.php
Again, the major access URL:
http://www.na.unep.net/digital_atlas2/google.php