Worrysome weather

 Dear friends, this post might not be very joyful. If you are sensitive to climate anxiety, skip this one! 

Weather in Finland on last day of July
Image from YLE

 Since I've been an adult I've been aware of the fact that it isn't as cold as it used to be. Part of that thinking comes from childhood nostalgia, I'm sure, but part of it is fact. According to this article I found on YLE (Yleisradio, the National Public Radio) Finnish weather has been impacted significantly more by climate change than globally. 

How does climate change impact the country? I'll just mention some things that I see. Many of these changes impact the US also. I feel like people in the US don't always notice the changes, partially because so many move so much from latitude to latitude, so there's no memory of how weather is supposed to be. Another reason is that humans have very bad weather memory! Ask people what the weather was like last fall and compare it to actual temperatures (those do get recorded.) You'll find very varied opinions. 

The summer heat: This summer has set a record of 21 days of over 30 degrees Celsius (87.8 Fahrenheit) somewhere in Finland. If that doesn't scare you, consider this: Finland is set around the same latitude as Alaska, and many of those 30+ temperatures are happening in Northern Finland. Also, nobody has air conditioning. And the days in the summer are very long, again especially in the North. The sun sets late (or not at all) and rises early and there's not much time to cool off. 

The warmer winters: There is less snow and more rain in the winters. That makes it extra dark in December. In Southwest Finland the snow is especially sparse, people can't go cross-country skiing, kids can't go sledding etc.  

Reindeer at the beach
Image from YLE

Animals: The animals who normally live further south start moving up north. Some of them we might like, some definitely not, like hornets. The animals living in the arctic areas of Finland and Norway have nowhere to move, so the Arctic Fox, for instance, is getting rarer and rarer. The reindeer, who live a happy semi-wild life in Lapland are suffering atrociously from the summer heat. Some are dying. The Saimaa Ringed Seal is endangered and one of the reasons is that it gives birth in little snow caves where they like to rest in the winter - and if there are no snowbanks, there are no caves either. 

The Baltic Sea: Our sea is not doing well, and some of the problems stem from climate change. The warm, humid winters and hot summers warm up the sea and decreases the salt content. Rain also flushes more nutrients into the sea, and blue-green algae thrives. It is now an issue every summer. The algae blooms everywhere in the Baltic Sea. I see campaign ads everywhere that say: "Your sea isn't supposed to look like Northern Lights." The campaign was called Northern Blight. 

You can't swim in blue-green algae, you can't use it for washing and it looks nightmarish. Everyone who boats in the Baltic Sea is worried about it. 

I won't say there are no climate change deniers in Finland - there probably are some. There are more fatalists who say that there's nothing that Finnish people can do, so we shouldn't worry about it. Most people try to do something - but the fatalists are right about the fact that there are only five million Finns. But there are many more Americans... and Americans surely CAN do something. 

Ok, that's it. The weather is finally cooling and next post will be more cheerful, promise.