The Summer in Finland is warm with around 20 hours of daylight at its highest height: Helsinki. The temperature often rises to 20 °C or more and occasionally even gets above 30°C. Summer nights can be very short because the sun sets only just below the horizon.
In winter, most, if not all of Finland, is covered by snow; however the amount of snowfall may vary from year to year. North of the Arctic Circle, the winter has a period, the polar night, when the sun does not rise above the horizon. In the northernmost part of Finland, the polar night lasts for 50 days. In southern Finland, the shortest day is around 6 hours long. Temperatures of 20°C are common in many areas. The average temperature in Helsinki in July is 17°C and in February 5,7°C.
Fall and Spring are the transitional seasons in Finland. They can either be rainy, or bright and sunny. Spring brighter days and warmer weather which allow for migratory birds to flow through throughout this season. Fall brings darker days and cool weather, it is also a season of beautiful color when the leaves in the trees turn bright yellow, orange, and red.
El Nino/La Nino have little to no effects in this area -- no reports of major incidents.
Effects of Climate Change:
- Floods -- The main reason for floods in Finland is the melting of the snow. There's usually so much snow in winter that its melting can cause small floods especially in western Finland. Some of the other things that cause flooding are heavy rain and the wind blowing from the sea that can rise the sea level along the coasts.
- Freezing of Ice and Snow -- leads to car crashes and other major transportation disasters.
Finland's Air Pollution (or lack there of...)
“The amounts of air pollutants remain dangerously high in many parts of Europe, according to an annual report by the European Environment Agency (EEA). However, in Finland and the other Nordic Countries, levels of air pollutants are the lowest in Continental Europe.” -environment.fi
“The amounts of air pollutants remain dangerously high in many parts of Europe, according to an annual report by the European Environment Agency (EEA). However, in Finland and the other Nordic Countries, levels of air pollutants are the lowest in Continental Europe.” -environment.fi
- The only air pollutants that are of any concern in Finland are: Particulate matter from road dust, and local pollution from urban transport and production (production of NO2)
- There are no issues with ground level ozone because the conditions are not suitable for its formation (cold weather)
- The government supported institute that regulates this is The Finnish Meteorological Institute; commissioned by the Ministry of the Environment to collect information on air quality annually from municipalities and industry.
- Production of CO2: In 2012, Finland's greenhouse gas emissions totaled at 60.9 million tons of CO2. It declined by a total of 5.9 million carbon dioxide tons from the year before. This is below the annual average level established by the Kyoto Protocol.
- No major incidents to report involving air pollution.