GRF · Regional cooperation
North America region
North America runs on integrated electricity, energy, transport and manufacturing systems across Canada, the United States and Mexico, exposed to wildfire, heat, flood, hurricanes and Arctic change. The Colorado River operating guidelines expire at the end of 2026. Canada and the United States agreed in principle to modernise the Columbia River Treaty in 2024. Smoke from the 2023 wildfires crossed the border for months. The region is forming; two hubs are planned, none operates.
North America region on the record.
- 01InstitutionThe Global Risks Forum (GRF)
- 02Shared systemsQuestions that cross borders in North America
- 03Frameworks in forceBilateral and trilateral arrangements on shared systems
- 04Dialogue questionsQuestions a regional dialogue could take up
- 05Planned hubsCoordination roles, not offices
- 06GRF’s roleLeadership, dialogue and tested arrangements in the region
- 07State and boundariesWhat is in place, and what is not
Questions that cross borders in North America.
| Shared system | Question for regional work |
|---|---|
| Integrated electricity and energy | How do interties, gas supply, extreme cold and heat create cross-border reliability risk? |
| Continental supply chains | Which border crossings, rail networks and ports concentrate exposure for integrated manufacturing? |
| Great Lakes, Colorado and Rio Grande waters | How do drought, allocation and quality pressures change water security across shared basins? |
| Wildfire, heat and smoke | Which health, power and transport systems fail together during cross-border wildfire seasons? |
| Data centres and compute | How do data-centre growth, grid capacity and water use interact, and what continuity do public services need? |
These are research questions from the regional programme design maintained by the Consortium Secretariat. They are questions to test, not findings, and no result is published for them yet.
Water now in North America.
Flood water, rain, night lights and population density over North America, from NASA GIBS. Each layer carries its own date.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 4
Water now, for this page
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed (clouds leave gaps)
- Source
- VIIRS Global Flood Product (NASA LANCE)
- Provider
- NASA LANCE
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite detection; clouds leave gaps
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-14
- Resolution
- about 250 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite detection; clouds leave gaps. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
- Reached through
- this site's data relay, from gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov
About this layer
- Evidence
- Estimated
- Source
- GPM IMERG (NASA GES DISC)
- Provider
- NASA GES DISC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite estimate, near real time
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-12
- Resolution
- about 2 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite estimate, near real time. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
- Reached through
- this site's data relay, from gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed
- Source
- VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2) (NASA LAADS DAAC)
- Provider
- NASA LAADS DAAC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite radiance, corrected for moonlight and atmosphere
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-12
- Resolution
- about 500 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite night-time radiance for the date shown; lights are a proxy for electricity use and outages, not a measurement of supply or access.
- Reached through
- this site's data relay, from gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov
About this layer
- Evidence
- Estimated
- Source
- Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (NASA SEDAC (CIESIN, Columbia University))
- Provider
- NASA SEDAC (CIESIN, Columbia University)
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Vintage
- null; Census-based estimate, static (2020)
- Resolution
- about 1 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Census-based estimate of people per square kilometre in 2020, shown as exposure context; not a count of people affected by any hazard.
- Reached through
- this site's data relay, from gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov
About this layer
- Evidence
- Observed (clouds and overpass timing leave gaps)
- Source
- VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS) (NASA LANCE FIRMS)
- Provider
- NASA LANCE FIRMS
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Satellite detection; clouds and overpass timing leave gaps
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-13
- Resolution
- about 500 m grid
- Uncertainty
- Satellite hot-spot detections for the day shown, including gas flares and industrial heat; not a confirmed fire, an incident report or a warning.
- Reached through
- this site's data relay, from gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov
About this layer
- Evidence
- Modelled
- Source
- SMAP Level 4 (NASA NSIDC DAAC)
- Provider
- NASA NSIDC DAAC
- Licence
- NASA open data
- Vintage
- daily; Model with satellite data assimilated
- Newest at build
- 2026-10-11
- Resolution
- about 2 km grid
- Uncertainty
- Model with satellite data assimilated. Satellite or model raster as the provider publishes it. Clouds, swath gaps and retrieval error leave gaps and noise; values are indicators, not measurements at a place.
- Reached through
- this site's data relay, from gibs.earthdata.nasa.gov
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
Water now, framed on North America.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · NASA GPM IMERG Early · U.S. Geological SurveySources and licences
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- GPM IMERG precipitation, NASA Precipitation Processing System; distributed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). doi:10.7927/H49C6VHW. CC BY 4.0
- NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- SMAP Level 4 soil moisture and snow mass, NASA Global Modeling and Assimilation Office; distributed by the NASA National Snow and Ice Data Center DAAC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
- Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into hexagonal cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
- Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
- Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- Live: NASA GPM IMERG Early. We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- Live: U.S. Geological Survey Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
- NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA’s Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA’s Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- River discharge forecast, 30 days with range (GloFAS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Emergency Management Service information 2026; not a flood warning.
- Past year, daily temperature (ERA5 via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
- Past year, daily temperature and sunshine (NASA POWER): These data were obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) POWER Project funded through the NASA Earth Science/Applied Science Program..
- Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Optional layers (14 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.
Layers and dates
- Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
- Precipitation rate, daily mean: GPM IMERG, NASA GES DISC · 12 Oct 2026
- Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
- Active fires and thermal anomalies: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
- Root-zone soil moisture, 0 to 100 cm: SMAP Level 4, NASA NSIDC DAAC · 11 Oct 2026
Bilateral and trilateral arrangements on shared systems.
- The International Joint Commission under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 for Canada and the United States, and the International Boundary and Water Commission for the United States and Mexico.
- The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, whose reliability standards apply across the interconnected grid.
- Mutual aid and wildfire resource sharing arrangements across the borders.
- The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the Columbia River Treaty, the latter under modernisation talks.
Questions a regional dialogue could take up.
| Question | Institutions involved |
|---|---|
| How are wildfire firefighting resources shared when fire seasons overlap across the continent? | Federal, state, provincial and tribal fire agencies |
| How do grid operators coordinate during extreme cold or heat events that span interconnections? | Reliability coordinators, regulators |
| How are shared rivers governed when drought cuts deliveries under a treaty? | Boundary commissions, water agencies, irrigation districts, tribal nations |
Coordination roles, not offices.
The Consortium Secretariat sits with the Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) in Toronto, Ontario. GCRI US is a separate organisation with its own legal identity. The Global Risks Alliance (GRA) publishes a Canada Nexus Consortium programme page, marked as forming; its earlier capability and finance statements are under publisher review before reuse. Mexico also takes part in the Latin America and the Caribbean region.
| Planned hub | Programme focus | State |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | National adaptation, sovereign compute, Indigenous and Arctic interfaces, infrastructure and North American coordination | Planned |
| United States | Federal, state, Tribal and territorial interfaces; power, digital infrastructure, hazard resilience and supply chains | Planned |
A planned hub is a proposed coordination role for shared-system work across a group of countries. It is not an operating site, an office or an exclusive territory, and countries listed in a hub’s scope do not, by that fact, have constituted programmes.
Leadership, dialogue and tested arrangements in the region.
Wildfire and grids show why convening matters here. Federal, state, provincial, Tribal and municipal authorities and operators share the same smoke, interties and supply chains. Binational commissions and reliability bodies hold their own mandates. GRF’s dialogues support them.
Shared-system dialogues
Documented dialogues among the authorities, operators, Tribal and First Nations governments and communities who share a basin, grid or corridor, with agreements and dissent recorded.
Regional roles in formation
Regional leadership roles are in formation; their scope is published only once adopted. See Regional leadership.
Regional dialogue records and reviewed mission findings are designed to inform the Regional Systems series of Reports and the Universe Annual Synthesis. A recurring gap in common methods can be filed as a change proposal to the Nexus Standards.
What is in place, and what is not.
- Programme state: forming. No regional programme decision, host agreement or hub is described as operating.
- National structures keep agenda authority and may decline participation or data sharing.
- No regional body binds a country, and withdrawal never erases other parties’ lawful work.
- GRF convenes and records. It does not regulate, finance, procure or certify.
Where to go next.
Write to the regional desk, run by the Consortium Secretariat: the contact form (North America desk). The acknowledgement gives a reference and names the next step. The technical view: GCRI’s North America region page. The financial view: GRA’s North America region page. Other regions: Africa, Asia and the Pacific and the full list on Regional cooperation.
Where this page’s references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
Questions and answers.
Does the Secretariat’s seat in Toronto make Canada the regional host?
Is the Canada programme of the Nexus Consortiums operating?
How does my institution take part in North America?
Are there results for this region yet?
Bring a governance question to the Forum.
Information and enquiries are open today. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.
Legal documents.
Show all 18 legal documents
Maps, data and figures on this site are shown for context and general information. They are not advice, forecasts or warnings; the limits of the information are set out in the Disclaimers and Data Notices.