Russia to make new atlas of the Arctic
Russia will compile a new integrated atlas of the Arctic, says Minister for Emergencies Situations and Head of the Russian Geographic Society Sergey Shoygu.
- Russia is coming back to the Arctic and Antarctic to study the areas after the hard years of the 1990s when there was not enough money for this job, Shoygu said at a press-conference devoted to the opening of the International Arctic Forum “Arctic: Territory of Dialogue”, newspaper Pravda.ru reports.
- Compiling the atlas of the Arctic is a big and serious task. We will start doing this work in the nearest future and by the next Arctic Forum, I hope, we will be able to present the atlas, he said.
The atlas will be made by the Russian Geographic Society (RGS) with active participation of experts from the Faculty of Geography at the Moscow State University (MSU).
According to Shoygu, a considerable part of the new atlas will be given to description of potentially dangerous objects in the Arctic.
As BarentsObserver reported, the Forum “Arctic: Territory of Dialogue” takes place in Moscow on September 22-23. The Forum will become the first international arena on the high level in Russia. Famous Russian and foreign scientists, Arctic researchers, representatives from Russian ministries, politicians and businessmen have been invited to participate. Also General Secretary of the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, Rune Rafaelsen, takes part in the forum.
Among the key issues of the Forum there are: climatic changes and consequences of human activity, challenges related to natural resources and sustainable development of the Arctic region.
