The U.S. Geological Survey's Streamer application allows users to explore where their surface water comes from and where it flows to. By clicking on any major stream or river, the user can trace it upstream to its source(s) or downstream to where it joins a larger river or empties into the ocean.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts data viewer provides a preliminary look at how different amounts of sea level rise would affect coastal flooding in the United States.
In addition to overall flooding estimates, users can see the relative social vulnerability of coastal regions; areas currently already subject to coastal flooding; impacts on marshes; and the different levels of confidence with which predictions can be made in different areas.
About 18 percent of U.S. oil and natural gas is produced offshore and production is growing. Globally, the offshore provides 30 percent of oil and natural gas.
Offshore wind is also a growing source of electricity, especially in Europe. The U.S. has significant offshore wind power potential, but no commercial wind facilities are in development [2017 update: the first offshore wind project in the United States went live in December 2016 off the coast of Rhode Island].
Ongoing technological advancements assure all these resources will continue to grow while addressing heightened environmental concerns.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Installed Wind Capacity map shows the current installed wind power capacity in each U.S. state, as well as yearly installed capacity maps dating back to 1999, which collectively show the growth of U.S. wind energy over time.
The results of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geologic CO2 Storage Assessment (2013) are available in interactive map form. Detailed information is available on published and unpublished storage assessments for 36 sedimentary basins. Each basin can be clicked on for more information, including:
The United States Geological Survey's (USGS) geologic map of the state of Hawai'i provides a series of printable color maps of the surface geology for each island in the state of Hawai'i. Users can also download metadata for the maps, GIS database files, and spreadsheets of geochemical and radiometric age data for different lava flows.
Click here to access the USGS geologic map of Hawai'i.
The U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Mineral Resources Program's interactive Geologic Map of U.S. States provides a large amount of information on geology, natural resources, and environmental data for every U.S. state, including:
Surface and bedrock geology
Mineral resources
Geochemical and geophysical data
Water monitoring sites
Partial soil and land use data
All of the maps are also available as Google Earth files that can be downloaded and used on personal computers and mobile devices.
The U.S. Department of Energy's visualization of per person energy use allows you to explore what the average energy usage for your state looks like in the form of burritos, dynamite, and other more relatable metrics. Because most people can't visualize what it means to use 148,600,000 BTU, this visualization is particularly useful for putting personal energy usage into perspective.