Research Guides: Earth Month: Explore

Primary Sources and Data

BuildingGreen This link opens in a new window
BuildingGreen provides access to reports and information covering sustainability, sustainable materials and construction, building processes and building design, and green building codes and certification.
Global Plants This link opens in a new window
The Global Plants database features high-resolution type specimens. The collection also includes partner-contributed reference works and primary sources, such as collectors’ correspondence and diaries, paintings, drawings, and photographs.
National Geographic Virtual Library This link opens in a new window
National Geographic Virtual Library is a complete archive of National Geographic magazine, with a cross-searchable collection of National Geographic books, maps, images and videos. This collection includes: National Geographic Magazine Archive, 1888-1994 National Geographic Magazine Archive, 1995-Current National Geographic: People, Animals, and the World National Geographic Kids. Users can discover images and search for word frequencies across the publication range of the magazine.
Environmental Issues Online This link opens in a new window
Environmental Issues Online brings together multimedia materials (text, archival primary sources, video and audio) around key environmental challenges, including climate change, water/air pollution, biodiversity, conservation, agriculture, deforestation and more.
Global Environmental Justice Documentaries Collection This link opens in a new window
The Global Environmental Justice Collection is a database containing 25 documentaries selected by faculty at Whittier College, Yale, Brandeis and NYU. The subjects range from the hidden costs of fast fashion in Asia and forest preservation in Tibet to inner-city environmental issues in the US. Together these films promote understanding of the link between environmental issues and human rights and they support the search for solutions to complex global problems.
UNdata This link opens in a new window
UNdata is the data download portal of the United Nations. Users can search by country, year, and indicator and create custom data extracts to download. UNData also includes an API that developers can use to query, display results externally, and download to local storage for further analysis. The data portal includes datasets from the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), World Health Organization (WHO), and more.

Biodiversity Heritage Library
The "legacy literature" of biodiversity, digitized and made openly accessible by a consortium of natural history and botanical libraries.
USDA Life Cycle Assessment Data
Data sets and toolkits for assessing environmental impacts.

Virtual Tours

Sơn Đoòng 360
Sơn Đoòng 360 is a project by National Geographic aiming to digitally preserve the world’s largest cave, Hang Sơn Đoòng, in central Vietnam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park, before it becomes subject to extensive tourism development.
Virtual Tour of the Giant's Causeway (Ireland)
Legend has it that this unusual formation of 40,000 interlocking, hexagonal basalt columns is what's left of a stepping-stone path from Ireland to Scotland, built by giants. Explore through a series of virtual tours created by the National Trust (UK).
The Hidden Worlds of the National Parks
Follow National Park rangers on a series of brief, narrated tours featuring 360-degree photos of different spots in five different parks. Fly with thousands of bats, explore an active lava tube, kayak through icebergs, and see hoodoos up close.
XL Catlin Seaview Survey
Go on virtual dives at locations across the globe, including Philippines, Belize, Turks & Caicos, and Bermuda.
Lights Over Lapland
Take a virtual trip from the Icehotel in Abisko national park, northern Sweden, ending in a wooden Sami hut at the base of Mount Noulja. A series of time-lapse videos shows the Northern lights dancing overhead in vibrant streaks and arcs of rippling green.