The GEO Year Book 2006 is the third annual survey of the changing global environment produced by the United Nations Environment Programme, in collaboration with many world experts in environmental research and action. The Year Book includes global and regional overviews. It highlights the linkages between environmental well-being, vulnerability and povertyrecords recent findings on the value of ecosystem servicesand describes new research findings on polar and ocean changes that may prove a turning point in the urgency of our awareness and response to global change.