Finland can mitigate it's greenhouse gas emissions with forests.

Corine Land Cover (CLC) (click here)

...One of the main aims of the CLC projects is to enable comparison of the results and the detection of changes in land cover. The changes were identified using the five-hectare resolution.

The total area of changes between 2000 and 2006 is about 7 000 km2 corresponding to about 2.1 % of Finland's area (excluding sea areas).

Most of the changes in Finland are due to forest management, i.e. forest cuttings and re-growth make 91 % of the area of all changes. Approximately 3 500 km2 of forest has changed into transitional woodland/shrubs and conversely nearly 3 000 km2 new forest has emerged.

Only 1 % of the detected changes are due to the increase in built-up land while establishment of new agricultural areas makes almost 7 % of the changes. The major part of the new agricultural areas is converted from old peat production areas....

Please keep in mind the EU is responsible for nine percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions. That is according to the US EPA.

As a government, the United States isn't even trying.

Ranking (click here) of the world's countries by 2014 per capita fossil-fuel CO2
emission rates.  National per capita estimates (CO2_CAP) are expressed
in metric tons of carbon (not CO2).

 14    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA                               4.43 

 41    FINLAND                                                2.35 

We all must do better.

During the Kyoto Protocol's second commitment period (2013 to 2020), the calculation of emissions and commitments has changed due to the revised, internationally agreed methodological and reporting guidelines for greenhouse gas emissions. Compared with the Kyoto Protocol's first commitment period (2008 to 2012), Finland's emissions level has risen by one to four per cent, depending on the year. The emissions level is influenced, for example, by the revised GWP values (global warming potential) used in commensurating greenhouse gases, the allocation of emissions and the methodological changes made.

Development of greenhouse gas emissions by sector in Finland in 1990 to 2016. (Above) (click here)

Nearly 500 national climate change laws have been passed in 66 countries, according to the 2014 GLOBE Climate Legislation Study. Adding to these numbers, Finland’s government (click here) on June 6 approved a proposal for a National Climate Act that entails reducing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Finland, like the majority of Europe has a stable population.

Finland GDP (left)

Finland GDP per capita $45,709.08

...Trade is important, (click here) with exports accounting for over one-third of GDP in recent years. The government is open to, and actively takes steps to attract, foreign direct investment. Finland is historically competitive in manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Finland excels in export of technology as well as promotion of startups in the information and communications technology, gaming, cleantech, and biotechnology sectors. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods....

• The current population of Finland is 5,538,053 as of Sunday, April 8, 2018, based on the latest United Nations estimates.
• Finland population is equivalent to 0.07% of the total world population.
• Finland ranks number 116 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population.
• The population density in Finland is 18 per Km2 (47 people per mi2).
• The total land area is 303,890 Km2 (117,333 sq. miles)
• 84.1 % of the population is urban (4,663,941 people in 2018)
• The median age in Finland is 42.5 years.

How many times was leadership in the USA told, there is an economy in planning for the climate crisis.

The only dialogue the USA has is from the filmmakers and the victims.

...The powerful film features (click here) Di Caprio meeting world leaders and going on a journey to five continents and the Arctic to uncover the dramatic reality of climate change. The documentary also presents actions we as individuals and as a society can take to prevent the disruption of life on our planet, including to tax the use of carbon....

April 4, 2018

The European Investment Bank (EIB) (click here) has signed a USD 49.3 million (EUR 40 m) loan with global chemicals company Kemira Oyj, headquartered in Finland. The loan was made possible by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, which was launched by the EIB Group and the European Commission to boost the competitiveness of the European economy.

Kemira will use the financing to boost its investments in research, development and innovation in chemical applications and technical solutions for water treatment, pulp and paper chemicals, and other chemicals. The aim of the project is to develop new products and technologies for the pulp and paper industry, municipal and industrial waste-water treatment as well as the mining industry. The R&D programme will be implemented in Kemira’s existing R&D centre located in Espoo, Finland, where highly specialised jobs will be maintained through the programme.

European Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, said: “The €40 million loan signed today by the European Investment Bank under the Investment Plan for Europe demonstrates both the EU’s and Kemira’s commitment to investing in the circular economy and minimising waste generation, as well as delivering growth and job opportunities. With this EU-backed financing, Kemira’s R&D capabilities are reinforced to develop new products and methods for treating waste water and to research innovative solutions for example in the paper and pulp as well as mining industries.”

Vice-President Alexander Stubb, responsible for EIB-lending in Northern Europe, said: “Everyone knows that natural resources are limited and that we have to make optimal use of them. The research, development and innovation programme proposed by Kemira will enable industries that use a lot of water to implement more circular economy-focused models, thus mitigating climate change.”

Supporting projects like Kemira, is part of the European drive to promoting a circular economy, where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the generation of waste is minimised – a key EU policy priority. The EIB, together with the European Commission, supports the Member States in their transition towards a circular economy by providing finance and advisory services for such projects. During the last five years the EIB has co-financed EUR 2.4 billion of circular economy projects with a positive impact on sustainable and economic growth, competitiveness and employment around Europe and beyond.                  

Finland invites investment with predictable impacts of the climate crisis.

In future, (click here) the average temperature in Finland will rise more [1] and faster than the global average [2]. In addition to warming, precipitation is estimated to increase. The changes will affect winters more than summers [3], [4]. The following changes are expected to occur in Finland’s climate:

Temperature will rise

• The winter temperatures in particular will rise [2].
• Warming will be fastest in Northern Finland [3].
• Very low temperatures seem to become rarer.
• Heat wave periods will probably become more common and last longer.
• The highest temperatures will probably rise. [4], [5]
• The growing season will become longer and warmer [2].

Precipitation will increase

• Particularly in the winter half of the year, precipitation will increase [3], [1] and it will more often fall down as rain rather than as snow [4].
• Heavy rain events are assumed to become more intense, and the change than average rainfall.
• The longest dry periods in winter and spring will become somewhat shorter [4].

Storm winds will change

• Average wind conditions are not expected to change much [6], [1].
• Storm winds are expected to increase over Finnish sea areas and the coastline. According to RCP4.5 scenario storm winds will increase most probably near the southern and western coastline since storm winds are projected to increase over Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea and Sea of Bothnia. According RCP8.5 scenario storm winds may increase over all Finnish sea areas and also southern and central part of the country reaching southern Lapland. [7], [8]
• Climate change projection gain more support from the most recent research about past storms in Europe. The catastrophic storms when investigated over the period of 1951–2010 have changed remarkably since 1990 which represents a change point in the storm series. Nearly all of the most catastrophic storms have occurred after year 1990 in an area that covers Western, Central and Northern Europe. [9]

Snow cover and soil frost will reduce

• The snow cover period will become shorter.
• The water equivalent of snow and snow depth will decrease.
• The amount of soil frost will reduce. [4], [5]
• During mild and rainy winters, the ground will often be wet and its carrying capacity reduced [10].

Cloud cover will increase and sunshine will decrease

• Winters will become cloudier and there will be less sunshine [1].
• In summer cloud cover is likely to remain largely unchanged or sunshine to become slightly more common. [1], [3], [4], [5]

Sea level in the Baltic Sea will rise and the winter ice cover will reduce

• Water level in the Gulf of Finland may begin to rise and in the Gulf of Bothnia the sea will recede slower than before [11], [12].
• Winter ice cover in the Baltic Sea will reduce and become thinner [11], [13]

December 24, 2014

By Carolyn Williams

Finland (click here) is receiving the brunt of global warming, as temperatures across the Nordic country climb faster than anywhere else in the world. 

A study conducted by the University of Eastern Finland and the Finnish Meteorological Institute found over the past 40 years, the average temperature has risen more than 0.2 degrees per decade, according to the University of Eastern Finland.

Over the past 166 years, the mean temperature has risen over 35 degrees Fahrenheit, Finnish news outlet YLE reported. This past decade, average temperatures have risen about 32 degrees Fahrenheit, a rate that is double that of the entire planet, YLE also noted. ...

Hatchery fish add to a better outcome of depleted wild stock.

"Wild Estonian and Russian sea trout (Salmo trutta) in Finnish coastal sea trout catches;" Results of genetic mixed stock analysis." Koljonen, M-L and Riho Gross.  Hereditas 151(6):177-95 · December 2014.

For responsible (click here) fisheries management of threatened species, it is essential to know the composition of catches and the extent to which fisheries exploit weak wild populations. The threatened Estonian, Finnish and Russian sea trout populations in the Gulf of Finland are targets of mixed-stock fisheries. The fish may originate from rivers with varying production capacities, from different countries, and they may also have either a wild or hatchery origin. In order to resolve the composition of Finnish coastal sea trout catches, we created a standardized baseline dataset of 15 DNA microsatellite loci for 59 sea trout populations around the Gulf of Finland and tested its resolution for mixed-stock analysis of 1372 captured fish. The baseline dataset provided sufficient resolution for reliable mixture analysis at regional group level, and also for most of the individual rivers stocks. The majority (76-80%) of the total catch originated from Finnish sea trout populations, 6-9% came from Russian and 12-15% from Estonian populations. Nearly all Finnish trout in the catch were of hatchery origin, while the Russian and Estonian trout were mostly of wild origin. The proportion of fish in the Finnish catches that originated from rivers with natural production was at least one fifth (22%, 19-23%). Two different spotting patterns were observed among the captured trout, with a small and sparsely spotted form being markedly more common among individuals of Russian (28%) and Estonian origin (22%) than among fish assigned to a Finnish origin (0.7%)....

The dark areas on the three charts to the left are hatchery fish. It appears after years of stagnant growth, the hatchery fish helped push the wild fish to a higher overall population. Several reasons, the hatchery fish were caught in nets reducing the numbers of wild caught. The hatchery fish also breed in the wild, increasing the young born. Whatever the reason, adding hatchery fish to the wild stock improved their outcomes.

"Annual changes in the proportions of wild and hatchery Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) caught in the Baltic Sea." Koljonen, M-L. 2006. e ICES Journal of Marine Science, 63: 1274e1285. 

DNA-level information (click here) from an eight-loci microsatellite baseline database of 32 Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) stocks was used with a Bayesian estimation method to assess the stock and stock group proportions of Finnish salmon catches in the Baltic Sea area. The proportions of seven stock groups, important to fisheries management, were assessed in catch samples taken between 2000 and 2005. In the Gulf of Bothnia area, the proportion of wild fish in catches showed an increasing trend in all areas until 2003, mainly because of the decrease in total catches caused by the relatively greater mortality of hatchery-reared fish compared with wild fish. In 2004, the total number of wild fish caught had also increased, indicating an increase in the abundance of wild stocks. In catches from the Å land Sea, the proportion of wild fish increased from 44% in 2000 to 70% in 2004, while the catch during the same period increased from 4628 to 7329 fish. In the Gulf of Finland, the local Neva salmon stock, which is released by Estonia, Finland, and Russia, made the largest contribution. In the western part of the Gulf of Finland, fish originating in the Baltic Main Basin also made a substantial contribution to catches. The threatened eastern Estonian and Russian wild stocks were recorded only in the western part of the Gulf of Finland, where the proportion of wild fish increased from 9% in 2003 to 19% in 2004.

Fish hatchery in West Virginia, USA

Americans are trying to change their contribution to the climate crisis. It is the government that is failing.

April 7 2018
By Rudi Kiefer

...Denying the evidence (click here) from sea level or temperature measurements around the world is only part of the problem, not of the solution.

A town hall forum proposing solutions is coming to Gainesville this week. The Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, is holding a public event at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in Brenau University’s Hosch Theatre, 429 Academy St. 

“This isn’t an effort at indoctrination,” said Dr. Vernon Dixon, a CCL member and retired psychiatrist. “The town hall discussion ranges from scientific to moral and conservative aspects.”

Speakers like Mark Farmer, biology professor at UGA, the Rev. Bill Coates of Gainesville First Baptist Church and the Rev. John Cromartie will bring a large variety of viewpoints to the table. Brenau University, the University of North Georgia and the Citizens’ Climate Lobby are jointly sponsoring the event to present a large cross-section of the greater Hall community.

Nationwide, the Citizens’ Climate Lobby is focused on educating the public and proposing responsible emissions policies. But even on a small scale, citizens can reduce pollution and atmospheric carbon load. Instead of burning winter’s yard debris, get a chipper and shred the twigs and branches. Mixed with leaves, it produces mulch that’ll protect topsoil from erosion and fertilize the ground. Burning only turns wooden plant debris into carbon dioxide....

One professor's journey proves Americans do persevere. I do not believe Dr. Kiefer is unusual for American academics. The scientists in the USA are part of the same understanding as the PhD.s that line the IPCC. The majority of American scientists have walked the same journey as Dr. Kiefer.

22 March 2011
By Marc Eggers

...The theme for World Water Day 2011: "Water for the Cities." (click here)

Brenau President Dr. Ed Schrader, an active environmentalist and trained geologist, set the tone for the discussion by stating that there is ample water, it just needs the right management.

"The fresh water that does fall on the continent is sufficient to supply the current ecosystems, human and non-human, for centuries and millennia to come," Schrader said. "The trouble is it doesn't always fall where and when you want it."

Schrader encouraged panel members and all in attendance to push for common ground and the implementation of sound water management.

Brenau Professor of Physical Science Dr. Rudi Kiefer said the disadvantage Lake Lanier had to contend with was having the "smallest drainage basin (for replenishing water that passes through the lake) in the county that feeds a lake which supplies water for a major metropolitan area."

Kiefer said rain that falls in nearby locations does not necessarily end up in Lake Lanier. Rainfall in Lula, the parking lot at Dawsonville Outlets, and at Johnson High School, for instance, does not end up in Lanier....

Their students are dedicated, bright and caring people. They want their learning to make the world a better place. It is the USA government that fails to represent the real people called Americans when it comes to the Climate Crisis. Once a leader in discovery of the dangers of Greenhouse Gases, the USA is now turning away from morality and gambling with the future for their own wealth.

September 27, 2017
By Rudi Kiefer

...“One of the objectives (click here) is to break down the basics of what they have ‘always known,’” Professor Ouattara says. “Most of these students grew up believing that we are ‘the civilized world,’’ and many other places are ‘uncivilized.’ Now they are put in the position of rebels, like Joseph Kony in Uganda, examining those two terms that they once were so sure about. When doubts develop, I can tell their minds are opening.”

Mind-opening experiences in Mary-Beth Looney’s honors course involve imagery, too, but it is a kinder, gentler type. A dimmed Disque Lecture Room in the John S. Burd Center brims with original art projections on the wall. Students, as well as faculty, dress up in continental-looking clothing, reminiscent of what Toulouse-Lautrec might have encountered on a stroll through the 19th century streets of his adopted hometown in France....

This is an excellent example of the arrogance of the USA and it's lack of climate policy.

The Finnish Forest Reindeer are a subspecies of reindeer. They are rare and threatened. The IUCN classifies them as vulnerable. The problem with the IUCN classification is that it lumps all caribou and raindeer into one group. That is not correct and the true picture of the Finnish Forest Reindeer is lost.

Rangifer tarandus (click here)

"Know Your Reindeer" (click here)

The world's Caribou and Reindeer are classified as a single species. Rangifer tarandus. Reindeer is the European name for the species while in North America, the species is known as Caribou. Here we use either name or Rangifer.

Identification of subspecies has changed over time (Banfield 1961, Geist 2007) and currently, Grubb (2005) lists 14 sub-species of which two are extinct: eogroenlandicus and dawsoni, however, the latter may have been an island dwarf form (Byun et al. 2002). In Russia, the use of subspecies differs from Grubb (2005) as angustirostris is recognized but not buskensis (I. Mizin pers. comm.). The subspecies are distinguished largely on skeletal and skull measurements, antler architecture and behaviour. The major groupings of subspecies are Boreal forest, continental tundra and high Arctic island. Based on current abundance, continental tundra caribou are the most numerous (56%) relative to mountain (19%), the forest (14%) and Arctic island (11%)....

These Finnish have every right to their lives and lifestyle. They are happy and healthy and raise reindeer as their livelihood. The people of the USA are so closed minded because of their politics, they refuse to see the real human tragedy developing in Lapland due to climate change.

It is embarrassing to realize the extent Americans are ignorant and arrogant. When one adds up those character issues, it makes for a highly laughable set of values and the people that hold them dear.

The USA knows, nor does it care about the people in Finland scared for their future and that of their culture.

11 March 2018

Inka Saara Arttijeff is the adviser to the president of the Sámi Parliament and hails from a family of Sámi reindeer herders. She represents Finland at international climate change summits.

This story by Sonia Narang for GlobalPost originally appeared on PRI.org on March 7, 2018, and is republished here as part of a partnership between PRI and Global Voices.

Inka Saara Arttijeff and her family (click here) gather in the cozy kitchen of their red, wooden house, as a pot of soup simmers on the stove. They live at the edge of a frozen lake in the storybook village of Nellim, up towards the far reaches of northern Finland. It’s early February, and the sun here begins to set around 3 p.m. Arttijeff is part of a family of indigenous Sámi reindeer herders who are unfazed by short days in subzero weather.

The Sámi are indigenous to the northern parts of Finland, as well as Sweden, Norway and Russia, known for their centuries-old tradition of herding reindeer. (Reindeer are considered “semidomesticated” in Finland, and guided through their seasonal migrations by the herders.) However, the warming climate has threatened to disrupt the Sámi people's tradition of reindeer herding. As Arctic temperatures rise more than twice as fast as the global average, reindeer herders are struggling to cope with increasingly unpredictable and extreme weather.

Outside Arttijeff’s home, vast expanses of snow-covered trees fill the forest landscape. However, logging has started to encroach upon forests where Sámi people herd. The combination of weather changes and increased tree cutting has made it harder for reindeer to find food, and it’s altered their migration patterns.

“Reindeer herding represents a way of life,” Arttijeff said.

“We are born to be reindeer herders; it's part of our identity,” she added. “It's hard to think about your life without it.”...

January 23, 2012
By Stephen Dudeck

Members (click here) of the ORHELIA Team Nuccio Mazzullo and Stephan Dudeck took part in the seminar ”Innovations and Traditions of Arctic Reindeer Herding” in the Sámi Education Institute on 20.1.2012 in Inari.

It was a great opportunity for us to meet people involved in reindeer husbandry from Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Komi Republic, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Taimyr area and Sakha Republic in Russia and from Finnish Lapland.

The participants of the seminar discussed the state of reindeer herding in general throughout the herding areas, reindeer pastures, reindeer meat and leather production and their marketing. Overarching topics were the management of the natural enemies of domesticated reindeer, the predators, and the influence of factors like traffic or the mining industry on reindeer herding.

Growing touristic interest in reindeer husbandry and the connected cultures develops albeit in different ways in almost all reindeer herding regions in the North and causes new possibilities for local economies.

Europe and especially Scandinavia is more and more involved in the reindeer herding business in Russia. Russian reindeer meat is reaching the European market and European investment is engaged in meat processing. Well organized slaughtering and meat processing is a crucial point for the development of reindeer meat production. But reindeer husbandry is more than a business; it is an inextricable part of indigenous lifestyles that developed over centuries....

Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) has to have a moratorium placed for the shipping industry.

...A range of options (click here)

Member states have proposed a wide range of options for MEPC's initial strategy. At the most ambitious end of the spectrum, the Marshall Islands has called for eliminating CO2 emissions from shipping by 2035. The world's second-biggest flag state also has the most to lose from climate change, as its average altitude is only seven feet above sea level. The most severe predictions for sea-level rise by the century's end are in the range of 6.5 feet. 

Alternatively, to keep shipping in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Accord, EU member states have proposed cutting shipping's emissions by 70 to 100 percent of 2008 levels by 2050. The EU members have leverage: the European Union has already announced that if it is not satisfied with IMO action on climate change, it will act unilaterally to impose its own restrictions on CO2 output from shipping by incorporating the sector into its emissions trading scheme.

The chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping, Esben Poulsson, called for IMO member states to compromise and reach an agreement in order to head off regional regulation. “Agreement upon a mid-century objective for the total reduction of CO2 emissions by the sector, regardless of trade growth, will be vital to discourage unilateral action and to provide the signal needed to stimulate the development of zero CO2 fuels," he said.

Poulsson suggested that the EU targets are unlikely to achieve enough support to pass at MEPC next week. As an alternative, Norway would like to see a slightly less ambitious 50 percent cut by 2050, and Japan is calling for a reduction of 50 percent by 2060. ICS, which represents most of the world's fleet, has endorsed the Japanese proposal. 
Nine developing nations and top oil-producing states have called for no action....

April 4, 2018
By MAREX

...Reducing Emissions (click here)

"When shippers choose the Panama Canal over the Suez Canal to travel from Asia to the U.S. West Coast, they release an estimated 12 percent fewer emissions, and reduce emissions by 18 percent when choosing the Canal over the Cape of Good Hope route." - Alexis Rodriguez

“Our customers know that, as long as they prefer the Panama Canal route to transit their cargo, they will avoid lengthy distances, save time, consume less fuel and therefore emit less greenhouse gases (GHG) or carbon dioxide (CO2),” said Mr. Vargas. 

Over the last 103 years, the Canal has directly contributed to the reduction of an estimated 700 million tons of CO2. Thanks to the shorter traveling distance and larger cargo carrying capacity offered by the Expanded Canal, the new waterway is expected to reduce an estimated 160 million tons of CO2 emissions in the next decade alone.

The Green Connection

Beyond offering a shorter, greener route, the Canal is actively taking steps to manage its own resources responsibly – using innovative water-savings basins, sustainable watershed management programs, and planning to become a carbon neutral entity – as well as encourage others to adopt more environmentally friendly practices.

“Our environmental responsibility begins with us. But we are also committed to helping the rest of the maritime community understand that, if we do not take action, climate change will impact us. We are equally committed to offering them the tools and incentives to take that action themselves,” Mr. Benítez told the crowd. “It’s for this reason we launched the Green Connection initiative, giving incentive to ships that burn fuel efficiently or burn fuel with a low sulfur content, which emit less CO2.”

In July 2016, the Panama Canal launched the Green Connection Environmental Recognition Program, honoring customers exceeding sustainability standards set forth by the IMO. The Program is one of the ways in which the Canal reaffirms its commitment to sustainability both at home and within the industry, providing customers tools and incentives, such as the Green Connection Award and the Emissions Calculator, to lessen their environmental impact....

April 5, 2018
BY Laura Layden 

Florida's citrus growers (click here) are still waiting for federal aid more than six months after Hurricane Irma devastated the state's orange crop.

Growers are frustrated and so are Florida's two senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio, who fired off a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Wednesday asking for "an opportunity to directly discuss the implementation of the disaster assistance funding."

In February, Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which included more than $2.3 billion in disaster assistance for citrus growers and other farmers affected by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria and the devastating wildfires last year.

The senators wrote they're "concerned that to date there has been no implementation guidance for producers."....

...The Sunshine State is the No. 2 producer of oranges in the world after Brazil. Citrus grown in Florida primarily ends up in juice form on kitchen tables throughout the world. Hurricane Irma in September 2017 affected the state's citrus crop in a big way. Before Irma the total impact of citrus on Florida’s economy was $8.6 billion a year. Wochit

The letter carried the signatures of six other U.S. senators: John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas, Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy and Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California....

f Louisiana, and Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris of California....

Finland is a strong proponent of returning the climate to a friendly level of GHG in the troposphere.

June 6, 2018

By ED King

Finland (click here) has become the latest country to announce a new climate change act, which will put into law a long-term mitigation target of 80% emissions reduction by 2050.

Describing the news as ‘super’, Environment Minister Ville Niinistö said it would place Finland on a path towards “a position as a pioneer of low-carbon society”.

“Climate change policy will be open to a more democratic preparation, and public participation opportunities will improve,” he said in a statement.

“Predictable climate policy for business, in turn, creates an excellent platform for low-carbon solutions for reducing emissions. Research and policy to strengthen dialogue is also important.”

In 2013 Finland’s total emissions of greenhouse gases were equal to 60.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, almost unchanged from 2012.

Government data reveals coal consumption increased but the peat, oil and natural gas use fell.

In an interview with RTCC last December Niinistö said Finland would push for ambitious European 2030 climate targets in line with science...

It's Sunday Night

Janina Paivansade Fry is Finnish pop singer and model. She hosted the show Bella on Finnish television channel Nelonen. She launched her own clothing line in 2007 which has continued for 10 years next year. Her breakthrough was winning the "Maiden of Finland" beauty pageant in 1993 and getting to the semi-finals in Miss World the same year.She also has a singing career, although her records have not been particularly successful, despite efforts by her record company Sony BMG. Fry gave birth to her first child, a daughter, on March 2007. The father of the child is Mark Fry, the director of marketing at Sony BMG in Finland. They had been dating for several years before marrying in the summer of 2007. The family lives in Espoo, Finland.

Just for fun.

There are two national anthems for Finland.

...“Vårt land” (click here) helped appease the patriotic yearnings of the students, and the bloodshed seen in other parts of Europe was averted in Finland.

Several composers had already attempted to set Runeberg’s lofty poem to music before Fredrik Pacius, a German-born composer and music lecturer at the University of Helsinki, but his was the first version to gain widespread popularity. The composer himself conducted the university choir in a slow, majestic first performance, andante maestoso, which moved the crowd to tears. Pacius’s tune was later also adopted for “Mu isamaa” (My Country), the Estonian national anthem from 1918 to 1940 and again since 1990....

Vårt land
Our Land

Vårt land, vårt land, vårt fosterland,
Our land, our land, our fatherland,

ljud högt, o dyra ord!
Sound loud, O name of worth!

Ej lyfts en höjd mot himlens rand,
No mount that meets the heaven’s band.

ej sänks en dal, ej sköljs en strand,
No hidden vale, no wavewashed strand.

mer älskad än vår bygd i nord,
Is loved, as is our native North. 

än våra fäders jord!
Our own forefathers’ earth.


Din blomning , sluten än i knopp,
Thy blossom, in the bud laid low,

Skall mogna ur sitt tvång;
Yet ripened shall upspring.

Se, ur vår kärlek skall gå opp
See! From our love once more shall grow

Ditt ljus, din glans, din fröjd, ditt hopp.
Thy light, thy joy, thy hope, thy glow!

Och högre klinga skall en gång
And clearer yet one day shall ring

Vår fosterländska sång.

The song our land shall sing.

                            

Maamme

Oi maamme, Suomi, synnyinmaa!
Soi, sana kultainen!
Ei laaksoa, ei kukkulaa,
ei vettä rantaa rakkaampaa
kuin kotimaa tää pohjoinen.
Maa kallis isien.

Sun kukoistukses kuorestaan
kerrankin puhkeaa;
viel’ lempemme saa nousemaan
sun toivos, riemus loistossaan,
ja kerran laulus, synnyinmaa
korkeemman kaiun saa.

The Palestinians have returned to knife attacks. At least then they only die one at a time and may take an Israeli with them.

April 8, 2018
By Jeffery Heller

Jeruslaem (Reuters) - An Israeli security guard (click here) died of wounds he suffered in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday carried out by an assailant identified by Israel as a Palestinian.

The assailant was shot and killed by police at the scene, a police spokesman said.

It was the second attack on Israelis in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank in three days and a sign of rising tensions in the region....

There is more to leading than tweeting. I rarely check my Twitter feed.

BEIRUT (AP) — THE Latest on the Syrian conflict (all times local): (click here)

4:55 p.m.

Britain's foreign secretary says reports of a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria are "deeply disturbing," and warns that Russia must not try to block an international investigation.

Boris Johnson says the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad have used poison gas in at least four attacks since 2014.

He says Britain backs an investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and warns that Assad-supporting "Russia must not yet again try to obstruct these investigations."

He says "those responsible for the use of chemical weapons have lost all moral integrity and must be held to account."

Britain and Russia are enmeshed in a diplomatic feud over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter with a nerve agent. Britain blames Russia for the use of a chemical weapon on U.K. soil. Russia denies responsibility....

It is interesting that Assad is having chemical weapon issues at the very same time Russia is having problems with chemical weapons. Condemning the attacks are worthless, Assad only uses it as an opportunity. People in Syria need immediate relief and the option of rescuing them from the land is a real option. That means more refugees, but, a ceasefire is paramount at this time. A military invasion is questionably a worse idea without risking a larger war with the Saudi-Houthi war blazing and Iraq is still unstable.

This ETC is still in effect for Iraq. Add to that the Kurds facing increased violence from Turkey and the entire idea of escalating the war is hideous.

April 8, 2018

The surge in violence (click here) between armed groups and government forces has resulted to over 3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) across Iraq and left more than 11 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

The ETC in Iraq was activated in August 2014 in response to the deteriorating security situation in the country. Since then, under the leadership of the World Food Programme (WFP), the ETC has been delivering vital communications services to the entire response community on the ground, including its partners, UN agencies, NGOs and other humanitarian organisations.

April 6, 2018
By Peter Singer

Princeton – Last month, (click here) the New York Times marked the 15th anniversary of the US-led war against Iraq with a poignant column by Sinan Antoon, an Iraqi novelist living in the United States, entitled “Fifteen Years Ago, America Destroyed My Country.” Antoon opposed both Saddam Hussein’s brutal dictatorship and the 2003 US-led invasion, which plunged the country into chaos, inflamed ethnic tensions, and killed hundreds of thousands of civilians. By destabilizing the region, the war enabled the rise of the Islamic State, which at its height occupied a substantial slice of Iraqi territory, beheading its opponents, attempting genocide against the Yazidi minority, and spreading terrorism around the world....

The Kurds will be the next ethnic group that will seek refugee status. They are attacked from Turkey and Baghdad. Baghdad should be very careful of ethnic cleansing.

With Baghdad stating the Kurds are to be considered an enemy of the state, it appears as though Iran is seeking more and more land to eliminate the Crescent and instill larger countries.

If anyone within the Iraq government that can understand oppression and ethnic cleansing is should be Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The USA military was aggressively attacking his people in Iraq when the Grand Ayatollah Al-Sayyid Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani spoke to the people from his bed in London and the USA miltiary was stopped without anyone firing a shot.

April 8, 2018

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Shia cleric (click here) and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr voiced on Sunday his rejection of the rumored return of Kurdish forces to areas disputed with the Iraqi government.

Answering his disciples’ questions through his online portal, Sadr stressed that “only the heroic Iraqi army, and no one else, should take charge there”.

He added that the Iraqi army’s control should “include every inch of the homeland, and not only the disputed regions”.

Iraq denied on Saturday reports that it was under pressures from the United States to allow the return of Kurdish forces to areas disputed by Baghdad and Kurdistan Region.

A statement by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s spokesperson, Saad al-Hadithi, reported by The New Arab, said that “The issue of the deployment of Iraqi forces in the northern and western territories is part of the responsibility of the government in Baghdad”. He added that the matter is “a sovereign, independent decision that is not subject to the will of foreign powers”...

Additionally, Iran is interfering in Iraq. Shia vs. Shia.

6 February 2018

Farsi sites reported that the Iranian authorities (click here) on Monday arrested Hussein al-Shirazi, the son of Sadiq al-Shirazi, the famous Shiite cleric in Qom, because of a lecture in which he described the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei as "the pharaoh."

The microphone news site published a copy of al-Shirazi's arrest warrant, saying that the prosecutors of Qom's clerics' court had ordered that the speech is an open criticism of Iranian regime's practices and the principle laws of the Faqih's mandate. The authorities arrested him on Monday morning.

According to a clip posted on YouTube as part of a lecture by Hussein al-Shirazi, a few weeks ago, he compared the rule of the Faqih to the rule of Pharaoh, elaborating on the tyranny of the religious state in Iran and its oppressive methods against protesters, critics and dissidents....

The entire region is experiencing changing dynamics. To put a Western military invasion in the middle of this is heinous.continued. The region has not been the same since the illegal and immoral invasion by the Bush White House and to kill more people is a heinous idea. Bullets are not going to solve the problems.'

This is what the USA's insistence of "One Iraq" has done. Rather than allowing the provinces to form their own sovereignty and strength; "One Iraq" has spawned an opportunity for the government to call Kurds as rebels. It was fine when the USA found a friendly force with the Kurds, but, now with a shifting region and aspirations of Iran, the Kurds are under attack. They are not only under attack from a NATO member, Turkey, Iraq's own government is placing them in the zone of danger. Iraq's sovereign borders is bringing about the end of the northern area of Kurds, once under a "No Fly Zone."

It looks as though Daesh is no longer a worry. Now, with Daesh defeated in Iraq, the aggression is shifting to ethnic cleansing.