Finland will have darker winters: snow will melt earlier, and the melting season will last longer

Between the years 1982 and 2014, a clear trend towards earlier snowmelt onset (5–6 days per decade) in some parts of the country, and an increasing melting season length (approximately 7 days per decade) were observed. In turn, a decreasing trend in surface albedo preceding the melting season was observed.

All this increases the amount of solar energy absorbed in the ground in early spring, which contributes to global warming.

The study was conducted in extensive collaboration between the Finnish Meteorological Institute, Natural Resources Institute Finland and the Finnish Environment Institute in a Monimet project funded by EU Life+ and led by researcher Ali Nadir Arslan from the Finnish Meteorological Institute.

Further information:

senior scientist Terhikki Manninen, tel. +358 29 539 4159, terhikki.manninen@fmi.fi

T. Manninen, T. Aalto, T. Markkanen, M. Peltoniemi, K.n Böttcher, S. Metsämäki, K. Anttila, P. Pirinen, A. Leppänen and A.N. Arslan, "Monitoring changes in forestry and seasonal snow using surface albedo during 1982–2016 as an indicator", Biogeosciences, 16, 223-240, 2019. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-223-2019

https://www.biogeosciences.net/16/223/2019/