The Northern Climate Observer

The Northern
Climate Observer

Praying for Rain This is the 500th edition of The Northern Climate Observer. The first was in August of 2009 and was published with the intent of sharing stories from across the circumpolar north that were signals of climate change - articles that readers would probably not see otherwise, because they were coming from other places, other countries. For the past 14 years, we have scanned northern newspapers each week, and posted into LEO Network articles that tell the story of the impacts and how, hopefully, we are learning to adapt. Usually I write these from home in Anchorage, but this edition comes to you from Norway where I am traveling with family. My wife's family emigrated from Norway at the turn of the 20th Century, ultimately settling in Minnesota. A lifelong dream for my wife Jill has been to visit the family farms in the old country. Jill's paternal great grandparents, Gustav Skramstad and Laila Spangen both come from large farming families near Løten, about an hour north of Oslo. In 1907, Gustav and his brother John booked passage on the Norwegian American Lines steam ship, “SS Bergensfjord,” from Christiania (now Oslo) to New York. There was land and jobs in America and they hoped to find opportunities that were not available to them at home. Laila, with her sister, followed in 1914 and the two brothers married the two sisters upon arrival. Over a century later Jill, our 4 children and myself found ourselves walking down a long row of birch trees that lead up to the Spangen Farm where Laila grew up. The farm is still in the family but very different from Laila's day. There is no longer the variety of farm animals, just pigs and more specifically piglets that are sold to farms across the region. The fields are planted in hay. The climate is also very different than in Laila's day. The temperature was about 29 degrees Celsius (about 84 Fahrenheit) when we visited, which according to Amund Spangen, was about ten degrees above normal. It had not rained since April. We followed Amund up to the house. He apologized for brown condition of the lawn. “It is too dry, I cannot even grow grass”, he said. In fact, the farm today cannot grow much of anything. With the worst drought since 2018, the hay planted in the fields is very much in question. The Spangen Farm like most others in the area have no irrigation. The only watering is done by tractor with water from Lake Mjøsa. If the drought continues, this crop could be a complete failure. Over the past 15 years, we have shared in the NCO stories of Northern Europe's farming challenges. Failures of fruit crops, strawberries in Sweden, raspberries in Norway, among others. See the feature article from October 2022 about the failure of the plum harvest in Valldal. This summer all of Northern Europe from Scotland to Finland is experiencing extreme temperatures and drought. The forecast is for rain this week in Løten, so we pray for Amund that Mother Nature will deliver at least some of the rain he needs. Otherwise, we will continue to follow farming in Norway as this generation applies science and traditional knowledge to adapt to the new challenges and a different climate than ever before. We thank all of our readers for following the NCO these many editions. A special thank you to Vigdis Johnsen who has shared so many of the articles from Norway. Mike Brubaker, Editor

	"Should have received four tons of plums" Linge farm, Valldal, Fjord community, Vestland, Norway Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / NRK / October 31, 2022 Norwegian fruit farmers are seeking compensation for poor harvests due to extreme weather conditions, with over 1,000 farmers applying for compensation this year, compared to under 500 last year, as cold weather destroyed crops in the west and north, while drought hit the east and inland areas. Read article on NRK
	Drought and rising heat bring unusual wildfire warnings in Northern Europe Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland Los Angeles Times / June 16, 2023 Northern Europe is experiencing an unusual heat wave and drought, making the region more vulnerable to forest fires, with firefighters battling wildfires in Portugal, Spain, Croatia, and southern France, and temperatures expected to hit 86 degrees Fahrenheit in Finland, rare for a country straddling the Arctic Circle. Read article on Los Angeles Times
	Finland sweats as temperatures approach summer highs Turku, Southwest Finland, Finland News / June 17, 2023 Finland is experiencing warm and sunny weather with temperatures ranging between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius, and an advisory for strong ultraviolet radiation has been issued for the south and southwest. Read article on News
	Fire bans in force across large parts of Sweden Sweden Sveriges Radio / Sveriges Radio / Sweden has implemented fire bans across most of the country due to high, very high, or extremely high risk of wildfires caused by hot weather and dry conditions. Read article on Sveriges Radio
	Possible wildfire-related fog in northern regions Iceland Erika Marzano / RÚV / June 13, 2023 A fog-like mist in northern Iceland may be connected to forest fires in Canada, with meteorologists suspecting that diluted smoke from the fires has reached the country due to prevailing winds blowing from west to east. Read article on RÚV
	Elk swims to island in Finnish archipelago, first sighting in 40 years Utö, Finland News / June 14, 2023 An elk was spotted swimming to the island of Utö in the Finnish archipelago, marking the first sighting of the animal in 40 years. Read article on News
	Dangerous PSP toxin levels found in some Southwest Alaska clams, mussels Chignik, Alaska, United States Jack Darrell / Alaska Public Media / June 14, 2023 High levels of PSP toxins have been found in razor clams in Chignik Lagoon and blue mussels in Sand Point, Alaska, making them unsafe to eat and potentially causing paralytic shellfish poisoning, with no known cure. Read article on Alaska Public Media

The Northern Climate Observer is published by the Center for Climate and Health. We track news coverage from across the circumpolar north and provide readers with a curated roundup of climate change related events. Thank you for reading our newsletter and for paying attention to our changing world.

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Northern Climate Observer

The Northern Climate Observer is published weekly by the Center for Climate and Health. We track news from across the circumpolar north and provide readers with a curated roundup of climate change related events.

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Northern Climate Observer

The Northern
Climate Observer