19 Dec 2007 - We have lived
in Jämtland county, Northern Sweden for
the last 5 years. Originally, we lived near
Frankfurt am Main, Germany but we moved to
Northern Sweden to live a more self-planned
life, with as little pressure from external
employers as possible, less nagging neighbours,
and most importantly, close with nature.
Since we have become more self-sufficient
by growing our own vegetables, we are able
to better recognise the changes in nature
which are inflicted by global warming. Here,
the snow is melting earlier from year to year,
giving us the possibility to plant earlier
and with less risk of frosty temperatures
destroying our vegetables. Each summer, we
have to water the plants more than the previous
year, due to lack of rain and increasing temperature.
Over the last 5 years living in Sweden, the
growing season has become approximately 2
to 3 weeks longer.
An apple tree that thrives in northern Sweden
When we moved to Jämtland 5 years ago,
we took an apple tree with us – a plant better
adapted to a central European climate. As
far as we know, apple trees do not grow well
in the North, and our new neighbours in Sweden
predicted that this tree would not survive
the usually much harsher conditions of the
northern Swedish winter. More than five years
later, the apple tree seems healthy, and is
growing and blooming. In fact, we had more
than 30 apples from this rather young tree
in 2006.
We have interviewed elderly people in Jämtland,
and their stories show 'something is going
on' with the climate. For example, Lake Flåsjön,
which is 50 km long, 3 to 4 km wide, and up
to 100 m deep, would freeze around Christmas
time in the past. In the last 10 years it
has become obvious that the lake is freezing
later in the year, much closer to New Year’s.
The climate did not use to be like this,
say the elders
According to elderly people, winters are no
longer the way they used to be. It used to
be normal to have temperatures below zero
during the whole winter, and some weeks of
temperatures consistently between -15 to -25
°C. Some days, temperature would drop
well below -30 °C, and this was absolutely
normal for winters up here.
These days seem to be over. Increasingly,
temperatures may rise above freezing point
at any time in the middle of winter, and are
often associated with rain. The snow is more
wet, rather than dry and powdery. There are
also more very hot days during the summer,
with temperatures over 25 °C.
This has become obvious for us already in
the relatively short 5 years of our time up
here, and is backed by information from our
neighbours who have seen this going on for
the past 10 years.
The consequences of changes in climate
These climatic changes are having consequences
for Sweden. In early 2006, Northern Sweden
experienced early and heavy snowfall. Up to
70 cm of snow fell during 2 days, and since
it was still quite warm (around 0 °C)
the snow was wet and heavy. Earlier, the ground
would be frozen when the first bigger snowfalls
came. But in 2006, the ground was not frozen
at all, and the trees could not hold against
the heavy snow. Tens of thousands of trees
collapsed, causing losses to the forestry
industry. There were also power failures,
creating more costs for power companies and
the general public.
I heard from another friend of ours, who
has good relations with the reindeer herders
in the area that they are increasingly suffering
from problems with their herds. The reindeer
have a hard time finding food in the winter,
as the snow cover gets icier due to warm days
in winter. This makes it impossible for the
reindeer to reach the moss and lichen they
usually eat during winter time. As a result,
herders have to feed reindeers with expensive
hay and pellets.
"The developing world is paying for
the wealth of the industrialised countries"
We are very concerned about the ongoing changes
in climate, and all the consequences this
will undoubtedly inflict to the industrial
world. Impacts on third world countries will
be even worse, as people in these countries
do not have the means to move to places that
are less affected by climate change.
It makes us particularly angry that - once
again – the developing world is paying for
the wealth of the industrialised countries,
many of which are still greedy enough to ignore
the problems that are so obvious.
My wife and I had the possibility to move
from central Germany to Northern Sweden, which
we will always be thankful for. Central and
southern Europe regions are afflicted by warm
periods and relative droughts, and one can
easily imagine how it might be in developing
countries: even worse. For us, we can see
every day that it was a move to a better life,
to a place with less but still obvious impacts
on the climate and personal life.
There isn't a month without news of climate
scientists finding out that their climate
models have to be adjusted to the worse, leading
to predictions of even more catastrophes,
higher temperatures and higher green house
gas levels. Now, we see that the worst case
predictions from some years ago are beginning
to occur. If this pace holds, we don't even
want to imagine what the world will look like
in 20 years. It just makes us so sad and angry.
Today, the climate change problem is on the
first pages of international newspapers. Finally,
something is happening in the political agendas
of some countries, with other countries and
people ignoring the problem.
Will this save the world? Well, hope dies
last.
