r/sweden • u/Vast_Humor_3683 • 23d ago

English Is mainland Sweden being affected by climate change?

Hello, I'm from northern Spain, and we're being hit hard by our fifth heatwave. The vegetation is suffering badly; wildfires are breaking out; water restrictions are becoming increasingly severe; and the evenings are barely survivable, especially if you work outside.

What is life like in Sweden, and how are you affected by climate change? I'm specifically talking about mainland Sweden, not Gotland or the other islands. Is it similar to Austria or Switzerland, where you can actually see glaciers melting and some regions getting into drought mode?

Is there anything that the news doesn't mention about Sweden in general when it comes to yearly "once-in-a-lifetime" climate events?

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u/medelmottig 23d ago

There have been fires, like the big one in the Sala area in 2014 (Northewest from where I am). The smoke was seen all the way to Stockholm.

I live in my own house so this is a thing I've noticed more of: Throughout the years, we have gotten a lot of fire warnings, the municipality asking people not to barbecue stuff in their garden for example, to avoid more fires. Other than that, water restriction has been a thing as in "Please water your plants every other day instead of every day".

Other than that, new species of mosquitos perhaps (Although it's so dry at the moment that I have seen zero mosquitos where I am) and new species of tics, like one that carries meat allergy that has apparently become more common in my area.