Climate change leads to healthier reindeer and large salmon in Lapland.
SHORTER winters, longer summers and a slight rise in temperature in northernmost Europe are proving a boon for arctic wildlife, agriculture and tourism.
In spite of dire warnings about climate change, the most northerly reaches of Scandinavia are basking in good news: reindeer are growing stronger and the salmon larger. New possibilities are opening up for tourism trade and even for wine-makers.
In Rovaniemi, Father Christmas’s Lapland home in northern Finland, reindeer are putting on weight. Jan-Eric Paadar, a herdsman’s son in the northerly Inari region, said recent shorter winters meant Finland’s 200,000 reindeer had longer to graze on grass and lichen. “It’s easier to find food when the winter comes later and later all the time,” he said.
The same applies to Norway, where the government reindeer department has reported four bumper grazing years. “They are in good condition. Last year there was a very good market for reindeer meat,” said Christian Lindman, a spokesman.
Salmon farmers are also benefiting. At Volden, a family-run salmon and trout producer in the coastal town of Alta, an employee said higher water temperatures made fish eat more and grow faster.
Professor Eystein Jansen, of the Bjerknes centre for climate research in Bergen, said changes in the North Sea ecosystem were among the clearest signs of climate change.
Norwegian fishermen can now net bigger cod and herring catches as both species migrate further north. An increase of 1C had made Norway’s waters the optimal temperature, the professor said.
According to Inger Hansson-Bauer, of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, farming patterns are also changing because of a rise in spring temperatures of 1.5C in the past century.
“There is a very clear tendency for spring to come earlier and autumns to be warmer,” she said. “In some areas there is a positive effect for farming. Where there was just one hay harvest, they can now harvest twice.”
As holidaymakers swelter in the south, northern Europe’s tourist industry is set to gain. Norway’s holiday home market is booming, with good coastal properties fetching £500,000 to £1m each.
Watersports are also drawing more followers. In Finland, there are 10,000 windsurfers and 1,000 more take it up every year. Pasi Rahikka, the manager of the Surf.fi windsurfing company, said climate change was making a difference.
“The summer seems to last a month longer than five or 10 years ago,” he said.
Richard Bisgrove, a plant scientist at the University of Reading and author of a well-regarded report on climate change, agreed that tourism would extend north with the onset of climate change.
“I’m in my early sixties and maybe when I retire I will go further north rather than south,” he said.
Denmark is already nurturing a wine industry. Although still in its infancy, it exported wine to France last year.
“Warm temperatures and long summers are helping us to mature the grapes,” said Jens Michael Gundersen of the Danish Wine Association.
Experts warn that while looking at the advantages of climate change is “refreshing”, the damage will far outweigh the benefits overall. “There will be gainers in this but the cost on a worldwide basis will be astronomical,” said Bisgrove.
NICOLA SMITH, BRUSSELS. THE TIME ONLINE.
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