Reporting on the State of the North American Environment The
North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation obliges
the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation
to “periodically address the state of the environment in the
territories of the Parties.” To meet this obligation, the
Secretariat has developed this report—The North American Mosaic:
An Overview of Key Environmental Issues—with the support of
environmental reporting experts from the governments of Canada,
Mexico and the United States. This report describes current
environmental conditions and trends across North America. The
breadth and diversity of the subject are astounding: from tiny
invasive zebra mussels to global greenhouse gases measured by
the teragram; from the last remaining vaquita porpoises to vast
expanses of boreal forests and marine ecosystems; from invisible
molecules of toxic chemicals to the all-too-visible smog and
haze that blanket our cities from time to time. As a mosaic of
existing information, this re