Working Group VIII

"Working Group VIII: Influence of Environmental Changes on Climate" is one of the working groups created under a bilateral agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union known as the "Agreement on Protection of the Environment." The bilateral agreement was established in May 1972 to foster joint research in several areas of environmental study, and has remained active since its inception despite the subsequent breakup of the Soviet Union.

Because of its focus on changes in climate, Working Group VIII has been particularly useful to the scientific communities of both nations, facilitating numerous cooperative climate studies. Data exchange under Working Group VIII has resulted in the publication of data sets that would otherwise be unavailable or even lost. Some of the Russian snow and precipitation data used in this Atlas were obtained through Working Group VIII.