Threshold values of climate change and protection of seas challenge the environmental policy
SYKE and Gaudeamus
Long-term irreversible changes have been underestimated in environmental policy. Environmental risks associated with threshold values are discussed in the book Jälkeemme vedenpaisumus? ilmastonmuutoksen ja merien suojelun ekologiset kynnysarvot.(After us the Deluge? Ecological thresholds related to climate change and the protection of seas), published on 1 October 2009. The book tells what we might be able to do to avoid the worst risks and control the changes that have already started.
An example is that the accelerating melting of glaciers or the release of methane from arctic wetlands and from the sea floor may lead to a radical warming of the climate and a collapse of the human welfare.
These issues are serious indeed, and not only because of the irreversibility of the changes. Various kinds of changes are connected with each other, and the long time span of the changes may give the human communities a false idea of safety, says Jari Lyytimäki, the author of the book. For example, the accumulation of carbon dioxide is for an individual a slow process that may remain unnoticed, but from the perspective of global climate history it is a rapid and radical change.
The book presents thresholds for various environmental changes. When a threshold has been passed, it may be difficult or even impossible to return to the earlier stage. Once the threshold value is reached, the change takes place relatively quickly, even if there are no essential changes in the environmental load.
The book is partly based on the results of the project Thresholds of environmental sustainability. One of the participants of the project, professor Mikael Hildén from SYKE, points out that even in case the ecosystem can recover, it may happen more slowly and in a manner diferent from what we would expect or hope. For instance the condition of the Baltic Sea would not improve quickly even if we could entirely eliminate the load to the sea.
Jari Lyytimäki, the author of the book, works as senior research scientist at the Finnish Environment Institute. He has compiled the book together with professor Mikael Hildén and research manager Eeva Furman, both from the Finnish Environment Institute. Several other experts have contributed with information boxes.
There is also an exhibition of posters on the themes of the book. It can be seen 2 October, when the Finnish Environment Institute has open house.
More information
Mr Jari Lyytimäki, senior research scientist,
firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, phone +358 400 148 856
Mr Mikael Hildén, professor, firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi
Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, phone +358 40 740 1675
Chief Information Officer Sirpa Pellinen,
firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE phone +358 04 740 2754
Jari Lyytimäki. Jälkeemme vedenpaisumus? Ilmastonmuutoksen ja merien suojelun ekologiset kynnysarvot. Gaudeamus, Helsinki. 271 s.
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