4 May 2010: The European Commission (EC) has launched a Soil Atlas of the Northern Circumpolar Region, the first compilation of all available information on the soils above the latitude of 50° N as a carbon pool.

The 144-page Atlas, produced by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre as a result of a three-year collaborative project with partners from northern EU countries, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, the US and the Russian Federation, also provides a detailed overview of circumpolar soil resources and their relevance to agriculture, forest management, water management, land use planning, infrastructure, housing and energy transport networks. [Press release]