By "mapping North America's shared environment", the Atlas depicts environmental issues from a continental perspective.
[1] The North American Environmental Atlas builds on information created, gathered, and harmonized by government scientists and cartographers from Natural Resources Canada, the United States Geological Survey, and Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía.
It contains data on watersheds, terrestrial and marine ecoregions and protected areas, industrial pollution, human impact, and base layers including transportation and waterways.
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation uses these geospatial data to identify priority areas to conserve biodiversity, track cross-border pollution, monitor carbon emissions across major transportation routes, and predict the spread of invasive species.
[citation needed] The variety of layers in the Atlas continues to expand in order to support analysis of environmental conditions.