Reindeer Flee to Cities as the Arctic Bakes in Unprecedented Heatwave

Gizmodo

2 days ago

For two straight weeks, Finland has been roasting under record-high temperatures. The country is facing its most intense and persistent heatwave in its recorded history, which has brought beach weather to towns above the Arctic Circle.
Friday marked the 14th consecutive day that at least one part of Finland reached a temperature above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius), according to the Finnish Meteorological Institute. Local weather stations across the country have also reported record-shattering temperatures. Only some parts of Lapland, in the northernmost region of Finland, were spared the record-breaking heat.
The heatwave comes as the Arctic is warming at four to five times the pace of the rest of the world, with Finland and other Nordic countries seeing increases in the annual air temperature that exceed the global average. In Finland, mean annual temperatures are projected to rise by up to 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit (3.5 degrees Celsius) by 2050.
Finland typically sees temperatures ranging from 59 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit (15 tio 20 degrees Celsius) in July, its hottest month.
'The last time Finnish Lapland had a similarly long heatwave was in 1972,' Jaakko Savela, a meteorologist at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, told BBC News. That heatwave only lasted 12 to 14 days, depending on the exact location. 'That record has now been broken.' Finland's official heatwave threshold is three days with highs over 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius).
The heatwave has left much of the country's surface soil parched, prompting the Meteorological Institute to issue wildfire warnings across large areas. Air conditioner sales have surged. Even the country's famed reindeer are feeling the heat, and many have reportedly fled into cities in search of cooler temperatures and water, the BBC reports.
A slow-moving high-pressure system lingering over northern Europe is to blame for the sweltering heat, and a severe high-temperature warning is still in effect for most of Finland. That's expected to change Saturday, when thunderstorms are forecasted to hit large swaths of the country, although temperatures could still reach as high as 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius). Warm temperatures are expected to persist into next week but likely won't be nearly as high.
The warmest temperatures in the nation, a balmy 90 degrees (31.7 degrees Celsius), were recorded in Ylitornia and Sodankylä, both in Lapland, earlier this week. That's roughly 18 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) warmer than the region usually gets.
The heat wave has prompted renewed concerns about the impact of climate change on the world's colder regions. Savela notes that this heatwave was not caused by climate change, but global warming has led to increased temperatures. 'Climate change has had an impact: without it, temperatures over the last two weeks would have been lower,' he told the BBC.
Even Father Christmas himself, who resides in Santa Claus Village, a theme park in Rovaniemi, Lapland's capital, had to remind his elves to stay hydrated, according to the BBC.