UNITED NATIONS — The world has made significant progress in income, education and health over the past 40 years, but the gains have been uneven and in some places war and the ravages of AIDS shortened life spans, according to a

Changes such as a decrease in sea ice have consequences elsewhere, the report says.

The Arctic's warming trend is beginning to affect the climate farther south, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said this week in its annual Arctic Report Card.

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Written by Jeff Thurston

Water is valuable, but clean water that people can drink has greater value. Some regions have an abundance of clean water, and others have do not – a geographic factor. In other places pressure on natural ecosystems that generate water are placing great stress on ecosystems, often overwhelming them. The production of clean water is a result of the protection and stewardship of natural ecosystems, but also the result of efficient and effective management.  And, on that basis geospatial technologies have a large role to play.