Monday, 05 December 2011 11:18
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| Reindeer in Lovozero, Russia. Warm winters in recent years have forced herders here in the far northern Kola Peninsula to delay for months the rounding up of their reindeer from the vast tundra -- at great economic cost. Photo: Alissa de Carbonnel, AFP. |
Sameradion (Radio Sami) compared the temperatures of several locations in northern Sweden and Norway. In all locations, this fall's average temperature has been from three to eight degrees warmer than the normal average temperature.
In Kiruna, Sweden's northernmost town, the average temperature in the first half of November was over 1 degree Celsius. November's average temperature is usually minus 6.5 degrees Celsius.
"November as a month and this entire fall will be the warmest on record, and we've been measuring for over 100 years," says Sverker Hällström.
The reason is a low pressure system over the Atlantic causing warm air to blow from the south or west, resulting in wind and rain with some snow in the mountains. And the warm weather will continue, according to meteorologist Sverker Hällström.
"We still can't see a real cold air outbreak, so the temperature will remain on the milder side," says Sverker Hällström, adding that the climate is changing. "A mild fall like this fits right into the pattern: we're slowly but surely moving toward slightly warmer conditions," says Hällström.
Warm weather affecting reindeer, herder says
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| Reindeer herdsman Semjon Sjarsjin Boljsjunov. Photo: Sameradion, Sweden. |
The first two weeks of November were also unusually warm on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Reindeer herdsman Semjon Sjarsjin Boljsjunov from Loparskaya, Russia, 40 km south of Murmansk, says that the unusually mild November weather led to problems.
His reindeer herding area is located in the forest near the Finnish border, and he explains how the mild autumn affected the reindeer there. "There's usually snow and ice by October. Moving the herd across the lakes and rivers was hard without any ice, and because the snow was late but the rain froze, many of the reindeer calves froze to death this fall," says Semjon.