CRI听力: Climate Change in Finland

Snowy landscapes, arctic animals and a winter wonderland - all these natural assets of Finland are said to be at risk because of climate change. It's predicted the snow cover period in the country will shorten and precipitation totals will increase, especially in winter.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

Reporter: Since the turn of the millennium, the perception of global warming as a distant challenge rather than a problem requiring urgent action has changed, as reports and research findings have produced more detailed forecasts of the consequences of global warming.

Jari Pasanen, an official from the Lapland Regional Environment Center, a place in northern Finland, is worried about the impact of climate change here.

"Of course it is a very important question for all of us who are working and living here in Lapland, and in fact, several programs and projects are already going on with climate change questions and issues".

In arctic regions, large areas of dark land and waters revealed by retreating ice and snow absorb more solar heat and reinforce the warming of the climate.

The impacts of climate change are already becoming visible in Finland as many arctic species are declining, while southerly species are spreading northwards.
Lapland is participating in an international project designed to both reduce the impact of climate change and help communities adapt to their changing climates.
Clim-ATIC is a 2.4-million-euro project that began on March 1st, 2008, and runs until April 30th, 2011.

Additionally, Clim-ATIC tries to answer the question of what kind of consequence climate change will have on the flooding of the waterways in Lapland.
Scenarios and flood maps have been developed to give land-use planners a better understanding of how climate change impacts flooding so they can more accurately identify which areas are not suitable for building due to risk of flood.

Miikka Halonen is the project manager of Clim-ATIC.

"If we have major huge floods we have lots of major damages, so this is a very important issue for the land use planners and the city of Rovaniemi decision makers,"
Miikka also describes what many Lapps fear:

"If the winter is shorter we possibly could have this Black Christmas. Because the winter and Christmas tourism is very important for Rovaniemi - we need snow! And we have Santa Claus, and snow and Santa Claus have to be together."

On a national level, preparations for a Finnish "National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change" have begun.

The adaptation strategy aims to increase the capacity of nature and humans to adjust to climate change by minimizing the adverse impacts or by taking advantage of the benefits.

For China Drive, I am Li Dong.

Li Dong, CRI News.

Talking Points:
1. What can we do in our daily lives to save energy, to tackle climate change?
2. What feelings do you have regarding climate change?
3. The lowest temperature recorded in China this year: -50.2