Not-so-snowy start to winter casts a gloomy shadow over Lapland tourism

A lack of snow in Finland's far north has disappointed tourists and snowmobile safari operators alike.

Comment from Gemini:

Several previous posts highlight the ongoing effects of climate change in Lapland, creating a context for this current snow shortage. One post from October 2024 documents an unusually warm autumn in Kilpisjärvi, foreshadowing the current lack of snow. Past posts also show a history of unusual temperature fluctuations and their effects, such as a record late heatwave in Rovaniemi in 2019, a dramatic 40-degree temperature swing in Muonio in 2019, and unusually warm early winters in Enontekià in 2018. While a 2019 post celebrated record Christmas snow cover in Inari, emphasizing the year-to-year variability, posts from 2017 and earlier discuss low ice cover and reindeer struggling to find food due to warming temperatures, further illustrating the long-term trend of climate change impacts in the region. A news article from the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), referenced in the observation, predicts continued warming in Lapland: [YLE News article about Syke climate change predictions]. The best search terms to find this article may be: "Syke" "Lapland" "climate change" "warming"). This information underscores the seriousness of the situation for Lapland's winter tourism industry and the need for adaptation strategies. The current situation, with safari operators struggling and tourists disappointed, demonstrates the immediate economic and social consequences of these predicted changes. While larger companies like Lapland Safaris have adapted by stockpiling snow, the impact on smaller businesses and seasonal workers is significant. This underscores the vulnerability of the tourism sector and the need for both short-term mitigation strategies and long-term planning in the face of climate change.