News

On 14 September 2017, the Finnish Government adopted the medium-term climate change plan to 2030. The plan ‘Towards Climate-Smart Day-to-Day Living’ sets out the necessary means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 in the non-emissions trading sector, i.e. transport, agriculture, heating and waste management.

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Global warming will not affect Finland in the same way all year round. Winters will become significantly warmer and more rainy during the winter months, while the changes in the summer will be less marked. As global warming progresses, high extreme temperatures become increasingly likely and low extremes become less common. Even though the climate is changing, the annual variation will remain.

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The chairmanship of the Arctic Council will be transferred to Finland in May. Finland has knowledge and experience of the Arctic region, its special characteristics and the dramatic climate change taking place there. Climate change increases travel, shipping and utilisation of natural resources in that region and thus also demand for observational data and services on the Arctic environment.

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A new study shows that due to climate change the capacity of plants on earth to absorb carbon has increased by up to one third since the beginning of the 20th century. It is estimated that plants and soil currently absorb about one quarter of the emissions from fossil fuels. However, the adverse effects of climate change might overrule the benefits from the increased absorbtion by plants.

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A research studied the historical development and climate impacts of a boreal peatland located in Southern Finland. The peatland had a warming impact on climate during the first 7000 years since its formation until the change from a fen to bog type peatland ultimately turned the climate impact from warming to cooling.

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Storm-induced forest damage went through a change point in 1990 after which the worst storms have been 3.5 times as catastrophic as before, mainly because of climate change. There have been more widespread gusts with wind speeds exceeding 42 m/s than before. The worsening of the catastrophic storms is a wintertime phenomenon, whereas the intensity of the strongest autumn storms has decreased since 1990.

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Emissions from municipalities in the Carbon Neutral Municipalities (HINKU) network declined by an average 29 percent in 2007 - 2015. The greatest decreases in emissions were in Ii, Kitee, Lieksa, Lohja and Rauma. The main reason for the reduction of climate emissions was a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Currently 36 municipalities are in the HINKU network.

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A new report by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) provides a comprehensive range of methods that will enable the natural resources sector to adapt to climate change. It contains an analysis and listing of adaptation measures available for the agriculture, forestry, fisheries, game and reindeer husbandry sectors. The report stresses that some changes are inevitable, and proactive adaptation is the most financially viable way forward. If action is timed correctly, Finland may even benefit from climate change.

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The environment in the Arctic region is now changing because of climate change. Therefore more observations and data is needed from the Artic region. The objective of the newly established INTAROS-project is to implement an integrated sustainable Arctic Observation System for future generations.

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According to the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the mean temperature for 2016 was higher than normal throughout the country. The deviation from the long-term temperature norm ranged from just under one degree in southern Finland to close to two degrees in Lapland. Among other things, 2016 will be remembered for its warm spring and rainy summer.

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Estimates of the Finnish future climate have been updated with the results of the latest generation of climate change models. Finland's average annual temperature rises nearly twice as fast as the global temperature. Compared to the previous generation of models, the largest difference is a slightly stronger rise in summer temperatures. Changes in precipitation levels have remained the same.

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Provide urban green, but spread it smartly, is the message of a new study by FMI. Urban green raises the price/m2 of apartments by 1-4%, depending on type (park, urban forest, or open field) and location within the city. When existing or planned urban areas are provided with the correct - for their location - mix of green types, the price benefits are maximized.

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A new study suggests that the uncertainties associated with climate engineering are too great for it to provide an alternative to the rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. has been suggested that climate engineering could be used to postpone cuts to greenhouse gas emissions while still achieving the objectives of limiting global warming to under 2 degrees, as set in the Paris Climate Agreement.

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Better administrative coordination can improve the effectiveness of weather and climate risk management, shows a study undertaken by the Finnish Meteorological Institute and the University of Helsinki. This was investigated in Zambia, where disaster risk management and climate change adaptation are partly separated from each other at the policy level, leading to inefficient use of administrative resources and overlapping management structures.

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In spite of the obvious threats that climate change poses to both the natural environment and human security, states of the world have been slow to react. Short-term economic gains still receive priority over long-term ecological and human security. In her doctoral dissertation, Auður H Ingólfsdóttir explores the case of Iceland. She uses a feminist social constructivist perspective, through which concepts from feminism and gender studies are used as analytical tools.

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Maintaining security and the central functions vital to society requires active preparation for extreme weather conditions. Preparation should take into account that climate change may change extreme weather conditions, their frequency and severity. Thus, preparing for extreme weather conditions is also part of the adaptation to climate change. ELASTINEN research project produced an overall assessment of the management of weather and climate risks and evaluated ways to promote management of these risks in various sectors.

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The population of Finland is projected to age significantly in future decades. Over the same period, the Finnish climate is expected to become warmer, leading to changes in the number and severity of extreme weather events that could have important impacts on the health of elderly people. In order to illustrate changes in the risks of climate change for the elderly, the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) and the Finnish Meteorological Institute have developed a vulnerability mapping tool for Climateguide.fi.

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A new research used climate model material and an automated classification programme to calculate the frequency and persistence of weather types and the probability of transitioning between weather types in the Australian region. According to the results, the models that simulated the frequencies of the weather types in a realistic way also simulated their persistence and the probabilities of transitioning in a realistic way.

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Finland is now among the countries which have ratified the Paris climate change agreement. President of Finland Sauli Niinistö ratified the Paris Agreement on 11 November 2016 The ratification document was delivered to the UN Secretary-General in New York on 14 November. So far the agreement has been ratified by 110 parties, representing 77% of the global green house gas emissions.

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Finnish scientists have produced the first global maps showing the human emissions of carbon dioxide made from satellite observations. Previous maps have incorporated also modelling results, but with the new technique the uncertainties from modelling can be avoided. The maps show the Earth's highest-emitting regions to be eastern United States, central Europe and East Asia.

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