Understanding the environmental challenges facing our communities requires access to reliable, comprehensive data. Whether you're a researcher studying public health impacts, a city planner designing climate-resilient infrastructure, or a community advocate working to address environmental justice concerns, having the right environmental data at your fingertips is essential.
The good news is that multiple federal agencies maintain robust databases tracking everything from air quality to natural disaster risk. These datasets provide the foundation for informed decision-making on critical environmental and public health issues. In this article, we'll explore five key sources of environmental data that professionals across sectors rely on to understand and address environmental challenges.
1. Air Quality System (AQS)
The Air Quality System serves as the EPA's comprehensive repository of ambient air pollution data, collecting information from federal, state, local, and tribal monitoring agencies across the United States. This extensive database provides crucial environmental data on the pollutants we breathe every day.
What makes AQS invaluable for environmental analysis?
For regulatory compliance and public health protection, AQS environmental data is used to assess whether communities meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for criteria pollutants such as ozone, PM2.5, and carbon monoxide. This assessment directly determines which areas are designated as Attainment or Non-Attainment zones – a classification that has significant implications for local industry and public health interventions.
The system's real power lies in its support of epidemiological research. Public health officials and researchers rely on AQS's long-term pollution data to study the relationship between chronic air pollution exposure and adverse health outcomes in surrounding populations. For communities experiencing elevated asthma rates or other respiratory conditions, this environmental data provides the evidence needed to advocate for change and implement targeted health programs.
Additionally, environmental analysts use AQS to track historical pollution trends, enabling them to evaluate the effectiveness of local environmental regulations, emissions control programs, and long-term public health strategies. This trend analysis helps policymakers understand whether their interventions are working and where additional efforts may be needed.
2. Toxics Release Inventory (TRI)
The Toxics Release Inventory is a public database that tracks the management of hundreds of toxic chemicals that industrial facilities must report when releasing them into the environment – whether into air, water, or land – or transferring them off-site for disposal or treatment.
How does TRI environmental data empower communities?
The TRI embodies the principle of community right-to-know. Residents and community groups use this environmental data to identify and map the largest sources of toxic releases in their areas. Armed with this information, citizens can participate meaningfully in local environmental permitting processes and policy decisions that affect their health and quality of life.
For governments and industry, TRI data serves as a critical tool for monitoring pollution prevention initiatives. Analyzing trends in this environmental data helps highlight which facilities or industrial sectors are making genuine progress in minimizing toxic chemical waste generation through source reduction efforts. This transparency creates both accountability and an opportunity to recognize leaders in environmental stewardship.
Environmental agencies use TRI environmental data as a starting point for risk prioritization. Areas with high-volume or highly hazardous chemical releases become targets for inspections, enforcement actions, and additional risk assessments. This targeted approach ensures that limited regulatory resources are deployed where they can have the greatest impact on protecting public health.
3. Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool (EJSCREEN)
EJSCREEN represents a sophisticated approach to understanding environmental inequality. This EPA screening tool combines high-resolution environmental indicators with demographic and socioeconomic data to identify areas where vulnerable populations may face disproportionate environmental burdens.
Why is EJSCREEN essential environmental data for equitable decision-making?
As the EPA's primary tool for preliminary environmental justice screening, EJSCREEN environmental data informs a wide range of federal decisions, from permitting and compliance to enforcement and grant-making. This ensures that the potential for disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities is considered before decisions are finalized rather than addressed after harm has occurred.
Community organizations and agencies use this environmental data to identify specific census blocks or tracts where low-income and minority populations experience multiple environmental stressors simultaneously. This geographic specificity enables targeted outreach efforts that are both culturally appropriate and strategically focused on the communities most in need of environmental protection and resources.
While EJSCREEN is not a comprehensive cumulative impact assessment, it provides an essential first step in understanding how pollution, poverty, and other stressors combine to create disproportionate burdens. This environmental data is necessary for comprehensive planning that addresses the full scope of environmental challenges facing disadvantaged communities.
4. NOAA Climate Normals
NOAA's Climate Normals consist of 30-year averages of climate variables such as temperature and precipitation, calculated by the National Centers for Environmental Information. The current normals cover the 1991–2020 period and provide baseline environmental data for understanding typical climate conditions.
How do Climate Normals support planning and adaptation?
Engineers and urban planners rely on this environmental data to establish baseline climate conditions for designing infrastructure that will serve communities for decades. From specifying HVAC capacity for peak heat events to sizing stormwater drainage systems for average and extreme precipitation, Climate Normals provide the foundation for resilient infrastructure design.
In the agricultural sector, farmers and water managers use temperature patterns, freeze dates, and precipitation normals to inform critical decisions about crop selection, planting schedules, and long-term reservoir management strategies. As climate baselines shift, this environmental data helps agricultural stakeholders adapt to changing conditions while maintaining productivity.
Utility companies use Climate Normals environmental data – particularly heating and cooling degree days – to forecast energy demand and plan for adequate capacity. Public health officials use heat and cold normals to define local thresholds for issuing public health alerts, protecting their populations during extreme weather events.
5. National Risk Index (NRI)
The National Risk Index, developed by FEMA, provides a holistic view of community risk by combining environmental data on 18 natural hazards with information about social vulnerability and community resilience. This comprehensive approach recognizes that disaster risk depends not only on hazard exposure but also on a community's capacity to prepare, respond, and recover.
How does NRI environmental data strengthen community resilience?
State and local governments use NRI environmental data to create and update their Hazard Mitigation Plans. The index helps them prioritize mitigation projects – such as elevating homes in flood-prone areas or reinforcing critical infrastructure – by identifying where investments will have the greatest impact on reducing future disaster losses.
The NRI plays a crucial role in resource allocation and funding decisions. This environmental data is used to identify and designate Community Disaster Resilience Zones, which receive priority access to specific federal funds and technical assistance aimed at building local resilience and reducing future disaster costs.
At the community level, NRI scores help educate residents about their specific risk profile, whether that's high exposure to hail, coastal flooding, or wildfire. This environmental data also identifies specific resilience factors that communities can improve, such as increasing insurance coverage, adopting stricter building codes, or developing emergency communication systems.
Access These Vital Environmental Data Sources Through Social Explorer
Understanding and addressing environmental challenges requires access to comprehensive, reliable environmental data. From air quality monitoring to climate patterns, from toxic releases to disaster risk, these five datasets provide the foundation for informed decision-making across numerous sectors.
The challenge for many researchers, planners, and advocates isn't the availability of environmental data – it's accessing and integrating these diverse datasets in a way that supports meaningful analysis and visualization. That's where Social Explorer makes a difference.
All of these critical environmental datasets are readily available through Social Explorer's intuitive mapping software, allowing you to explore, map, and analyze environmental data alongside demographic, economic, and social indicators. Whether you're conducting environmental justice research, planning climate adaptation strategies, or advocating for policy change, Social Explorer provides the tools you need to turn environmental data into actionable insights.
Ready to harness the power of environmental data for your work? Sign up for a free trial of Social Explorer today and discover how easy it is to access and analyze the environmental information that matters most to your community.