Copenhagen Climate Summit and Estonian Climate future

Starting from today and until December 18 in Copenhagen will take place the Climate Summit with the aim of getting to a new way of using energy and stabilize the global climate.

During the next two weeks a total of 100 Heads of States of most countries in the world will pass through the Danish capital, which augurs that it will be a political agreement on the issue.

While the Summit takes place, a recent report shoves some results according to which the North European countries could benefit by the climate change.

Wondering how this could be something more than a mere provocation, EFP asked Jaan Saar, Director General of the Estonian Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, to get some clear answers.

“According to different scenarios based on model calculations as well as the latest conclusions by the IPCC, by the year 2100 the mean air temperature in Northern Europe (among other countries also in Estonia) will increase by more than 2 degrees. The annual amount of precipitation is also expected to increase by 15 – 20%.
All this refers to the possibility that due to potential climate change Estonia will find itself “relocated” several hundreds of kilometers towards the south. This would provide us with the opportunity to grow crops that so far are characteristic of more southern regions”.

But despite the economic benefits it would bring for the country, not all would be favorable.

“Our forest experts, however, are more worried as warm and wet weather will cause proliferation of forest pests.
If model calculations prove to be true, the number of stormy days will increase, and heavy rain falls and spring droughts will occur more frequently. The snow cover will last for a considerably smaller number of days” Saar said.

Beyond the effects of global warming are exaggerated or real, the issue is not going unnoticed for any country, not even for Estonia.