ArcGIS Living Atlas Blog

For all those who have asked for more specific language data in Living Atlas, we heard you! Thank you for bringing this up at the booth at the user conferences, in questions during webinars, and in other channels. We are proud to announce that one of the newest items available in Living Atlas is a feature layer of over 100 languages spoken across the United States.

To learn more about the layer, maps, and apps that can be used as-is or customized for your needs, visit this blog by @DianaLavery1 for more information.

If you are interested in having this item updated on an annual basis when new ACS PUMS data is available, let us know!

This blog article introduces a new ArcGIS Living Atlas layer that visualizes U.S. electricity rates from 2000–2024 to show how rising demand from data centers and AI intersects with broader rate trends. It highlights nominal and inflation-adjusted changes, regional variations, and uses hexagon grids for clearer mapping, helping planners, policymakers, and researchers understand evolving electricity cost patterns.

To learn more about the methodology and how to access the layer and pre-configured maps, visit this blog by Steven Aviles. 

The Aqueduct 4.0 Global Water Risk dataset from the World Resources Institute (WRI) is now available in ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World. Map with color coding.

Aqueduct 4.0 translates complex hydrological model outputs from PCR-GLOBWB 2 into intuitive water risk indicators at HydroSHEDS v1 level 6, with aggregations at provincial, state, and national levels. This comprehensive framework assesses both current conditions and future projections of water resources to inform decision-making.

For more information about this dataset and how to map it within ArcGIS, visit the full blog by @EmilyMeriam1 and @GonzaloEspinoza-Davalos here. 

How the next Census could reshape the Congressional Landscape

Every decade, the U.S. Census provides updated population counts that directly impact the allocation of political representation. Following the 2030 Census, the fixed total of 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will be redistributed among the 50 states through a process known as apportionment. 

Over the last 20 years, Esri has leveraged its Esri Updated Demographics population estimates to forecast congressional seat allocations in anticipation of the decennial U.S. Census. To learn more about Esri Demographics' projections and how they coincide with the upcoming Census, visit this blog by Esri's Chief Demographer @KyleRCassal, @JimHerries, and @AlexHenesy. 

The CHELSA bioclimate projections in the Living Atlas have been incredibly popular with the GIS community, and now we have enhanced the collection to include Growing Degree Days above 10 °C, Net Primary Productivity, Snow Cover Days, and Snow Water Equivalent.

The new layers provide crucial insights into the future impact of climate change on ecosystems and human wellbeing. The new layers include projections for the early, mid, and late 21st century under several greenhouse gas scenarios (SSPs). As we continue to expand and refine our data collection, we invite everyone to leverage this resource for their work in climate science and environmental management.

To learn more about accessing the layer and to see change over time examples, check out this blog by @EmilyMeriam1 and Raf Antwerpen. 

A new climate projection layer is now available in ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World: Global Seasonal Change Projections. This dataset offers a new look at how the timing of spring, summer, fall, and winter is expected to change across the globe through the end of the 21st century.

To learn more about accessing the layer and to see change over time examples, check out this blog by @EmilyMeriam1 and Raf Antwerpen. 

Did you know that Living Atlas Elevation Layers are updated quarterly with high-resolution elevation data from federal agencies, open sources, and the Community Maps Program? These updates are used within the Terrain, TopoBathy, and Basemap items, which improve your maps and visualizations of elevation across ArcGIS.

To see some of the newest lidar-derived updates for this release, check out this blog  by @RajinderNagi.

The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) has long been the standard for land cover mapping in the United States. This year, the USGS announced a major advancement in land cover mapping with the release of the Annual NLCD products. Harnessing the full Landsat data record, Annual NLCD provides a scientific suite of land cover data from 1985 to present. The data products are the result of a confluence of methodologies from past land cover projects together with modern innovations in geospatial deep learning technologies to create the next generation of land cover and land change information.

Esri and the ArcGIS Living Atlas team are providing accessibility to this data in the form of a ready-to-use imagery layer and a web mapping application, the NLCD Land Cover Explorer. Change analysis is essential to deriving information from a land cover time series. One of the foremost capabilities of this app is dynamic change analysis, providing dynamic visual and statistical change across annual slices of the NLCD Land Cover data archive.

To read the full guide, visit this blog by @RobertWaterman.

The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

A new ArcGIS Pro tool for downloading Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data is now available in the ArcGIS Living Atlas! Providing access to a collection of over 3.1 billion species occurrence records contributed by over 2,500 publishing institutions, GBIF is the result of an intergovernmental initiative that hosts the largest collection of biodiversity information in the world. This new ArcGIS Pro download tool is aimed at providing researchers, educators, and decision makers with free and open access to occurrence and observation data for all types of life on planet Earth.

For more information about this tool, visit the detailed blog by @CraigMcCabe 

This year, Esri’s ArcGIS StoryMaps and Living Atlas teams are cohosting the 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition to share best practices and innovation in storytelling, cartography, and data visualization—and to help you elevate the challenges that mean the most to you.     

Read on for more competition details and resources to get started.

• What are the competition categories?
• Who can participate?
• What is ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World?
• What makes a winning story?
• Who are the guest judges this year?
• What’s the best place to start?

Competition closes December 12, 2025. 

Visit the 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition website to get started. We can’t wait to see what you create.