Environmental data report /

The third edition of the now standard UN compendium of statistical data on the status of the environment contains the same ten sections as earlier editions: pollution, climate, natural resources, population, health, energy, tourism, wastes, natural disasters, and international cooperation. Sections begin with a several page introduction and world overview of the topic, followed by detailed statistical information for most (but not all) individual countries belonging to the UN Environmental Programme. Sources of data are international organizations and international monitoring programs implemented by GEMS Monitoring and Assessment Research Centre (UK). No index but detailed table of contents. The OECD offers a new compilation of environmental data grouped under three broad categories: state of the environment, pressures on the environment, and managing the environment. The information is limited to the OECD member countries and was collected through questionnaires sent to them. No index, minimal table of contents. Brief introductions to tables are more definitional and less interpretive than those in the UN volume, with no worldwide overview of the topics. The OECD and UN titles report different kinds of data (e.g., one source may report tons of a pollutant, the other quantities of pollutant per volume of water or air, or percentages rather than quantities), and for different years, although similar topics are being covered. In comparison with a third recent, similar work, Arsen J. Darnay's Statistical Record of the Environment, (CH, May'92), the UN volume is perhaps the most useful, although it is not inclusive of information from the other two sources. It has more descriptive text to help interpret the data, and includes a wider range of data for more countries than the OECD publication, whereas the Darnay work concentrates on the US. The UN report is recommended for all academic libraries needing international data beyond that provided by general statistical sources. The OECD compendium will be primarily useful in large academic libraries supporting research on international environmental problems. T. G. Kirk Berea College