Annual Report 2001

17 UNEP/GRID-Arendal | Annual Report 2001 | | Section 2 | GRID-Arendal in review

Arctic information on the Internet

The Arctic Internet portal was the first operational portal that was launched as part of UNEP's main portal to envi- ronmental information, UNEP.Net. For more information go to: www.unep.net/arctic. Access to information about how permafrost is responding to rising temperatures is crucial when countries in the Arctic will have to adapt to the impacts of global warming. Many global and Arctic scientific programmes have developed important datasets that now are being made easily accessible through GRID-Arendal's new interactive map service. This service provides easy access to, among others, a map of the current extent of permafrost (illustrated in blue). This map will act as a baseline of the Arctic's frozen soils. To interact with the maps, go to: maps.grida.no/arctic.

• • • Some interactive map themes: Topography Human impact Population density Land cover Protected areas • • • • • • Ecoregions Permafrost Geology Solar radiation Precipitation Soils • •

"I do not think it is radical to say that the map will become progressively less blue in the coming years" , said Svein Tveitdal, Managing Director of GRID-Arendal.

Oden, the Swedish icebreaker, sailed the Arctic Ocean with GRID-Arendal staff on board. Our staff observed how Norway collected data for future definition of marine boundaries according to the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas.

Photo Halfdan Carstens