The Värriö research station clearly shows signs of northern climate change. The climate at the research station in Salla is similar today to what it was 300 kilometres to the south just over 40 years ago.

Signs of climate change are most evident in the Arctic and the northern coniferous forest belt.

– The pace of change is so rapid here and there is no end in sight at the moment, so there is nothing to do but worry, says Mikko Sipilä at Värriö research station.

The atmospheric scientist bases his concerns on international studies and observations made at Värriö research station over the past 50 years, among other things.

– The temperature has risen here in December by four degrees in about 50 years, and the tree line has been getting higher and higher. The snow-covered period has shortened by three weeks in the last 40 years, Sipilä lists the changes in the climate of the Värriö area.

Finland’s expertise in atmospheric research is of an internationally high standard and has received worldwide recognition. At the Center for Atmospheric Science, very sensitive measuring devices have been developed, and researchers’ research articles have been published in a large number of prestigious scientific journals in the field.

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The remote Värriö research station is a key location for atmospheric research – scientists see climate change in observations and in the environmentRead More »

In some places, more sightings have been reported than last year. However, they only give an indication of the number of ticks. Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalomyelitis, on the other hand, have so far been much less frequent than last year.

– I never thought there could be so many.

When he lived in Vaasa, Uhlgren didn’t come across many ticks. During his eight years in Turku, he has been bitten by them in fifteen summers.

The warm late summer kept the ticks active, and the Punkkilive.fi website, run by the University of Turku and pharmaceutical company Pfizer, received almost 3 000 sightings from the Turku region in August alone.

However, overall there are clearly fewer entries from the Turku region and the capital region than last year.

On the other hand, further north in the Vaasa, Kokkola and Oulu regions, more sightings have accumulated than last year.

According to him, it’s because we’ve learned to live with ticks: vaccinations have also been taken outside of Uusimaa, Northern Finland and Åland, and tick checks, tick removal and monitoring of symptoms are familiar.

Field surveys confirm the findings

More than 74,000 tick sightings have been recorded throughout the country so far.

Last year, September was a busy reporting month, and observations were still made in November. Researchers are also interested in how long the ticks’ active season is.

– Inevitably, there is a connection between things, but tick life also correlates with the population, meaning that a lot of observations come from places where there are a lot of people.

Field surveys, however, seem to confirm what the observation map tells. For example, many sightings have been reported in Kumpula, Helsinki, but only a few in Seurasaari. Field surveys have given similar results regarding the number of ticks.

The chief administrative physician Heikki Kaukoranta from Vaasa also believes that the number of ticks can vary greatly locally, but remain in the dark on the map.

– Maalahti, with 5,500 inhabitants, may have the same number of ticks as Vaasa, with 66,000 inhabitants, but there are fewer notifiers.

On the other hand, both Sormunen and Uhlgren believe that some people have lost the urge to report their findings.

– How much do the people living in the archipelago even report, because the tick is already like a mosquito – a part of everyday life? ponders Uhlgren.

Do some attract ticks more than others?

Arttu Uhlgren does a lot of boating, and woodpeckers are always welcome from the archipelago. He got his first tick in Mariehamn, and then it was still terrible.

– I got a bit of a feeling that this is where it will die now. Now I’m already used to ticks, but such a number (57) is disturbing, says Uhlgren.

An exceptional tick avalanche hit Jungsfruskär, near Åland. There were two friends and a dog on the nature trail; their balance is a couple of ticks per man and five in the dog.

Uhgren has experience over the years that punks don’t seem to care about others.

– I have a strange way of attracting ticks. If you and your spouse are in a mushroom, I also collect ticks.

Only once has Uhlgren had to take a course of antibiotics, when one tick had managed to avoid the daily inspection. The tick situation still does not limit his movement.

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Tens of thousands of tick sightings have been made again, and the season is still going on – Arttu Uhlgren plucked 57 ticks from himself in one nightRead More »