In Finnish Lapland, Santa Claus and his elves are busy taking photos with tourists and answering letters from around the world, but they are powerless in the face of a new phenomenon: too little snow.
Rovaniemi, an Arctic village that Finnish tourism marketing has been touting since the 1980s as the “real homeland” of Santa Claus, is usually completely covered in snow in late November. This year, the thermometers indicate +2°C, and the rain is present.
“I was expecting a lot more snow. I mean, it feels like Christmas… but I thought it would be a little more like Santa Claus,” says Wenguel, an American tourist.
“My reindeer can fly, so it’s not a problem!” jokes one of the village Santas, all dressed in red and white. He added: “We see that climate change is real. They affect life here in the Arctic, especially the reindeer.”
Milder and more unpredictable winters cause snow to melt and then refreeze, so layers of ice build up and reindeer struggle to dig up lichen, their main food source.
The Arctic has warmed almost four times faster than other regions of the world, according to a study published in the journal Nature in 2022. The past few months have set a historic warming record in Finnish Lapland.
A new record was set for November with 11.1°C in the town of Utsjoki. The previous record of 11°C dates back to 1975.
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Source: jurnalul.ro
