Press releases

Less cyanobacteria have been observed at national algae monitoring sites as compared to last week. Windy and cloudy weather has restrained the occurrence of cyanobacteria both in the Finnish sea areas and in lakes.

This week, in both Finnish sea areas and in inland waters, greater amounts of cyanobacteria have been observed as compared to last week. The warm weather period in June has promoted the growth of cyanobacteria, as is typical of heatwaves. With the continuing warm weather, the number of surface accumulations may still increase in the next few days.

Despite long-term work on water protection, the condition of the marine environment of the Archipelago Sea has not improved as hoped. The amount of nutrients in the Archipelago Sea, phosphorus in particular, has only decreased slightly. The MAAMERI research project aims to investigate the effects of reducing the phosphorus load coming from land on the marine environment in more detail and understand how the recovery of the environment could be enhanced.

During the Midsummer week, cyanobacteria have started to occur in increasing numbers both in lakes and in the southern and southwestern parts of Finnish sea areas. The exceptionally warm weather in June has locally brought forward cyanobacterial occurrences in lakes, while in the Baltic sea areas the situation is typical of the time. On shores, there might still be an abundance of yellowish pollen from coniferous trees, which deceptively resembles cyanobacterial bloom.

According to a recent calculation by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), municipal climate emissions increased by 0.6 per cent in 2018 compared to the previous year. On average, emissions from transport, agriculture and district heating remained at the level of 2017, but emissions from electricity were higher than before because of the increased emissions of Finnish electricity production.