A background to the symposium on climatic variation and its consequences

Abstract

The warm period of the 1930's resulted in a northerly advance of many plant and animal species, an extension of grain cultivation and an optimism concerning the possibilities of settling northern Finland and exploiting its natural resources. These endeavours were unsuccessful, however, partially as a result of a subsequent cooling of the climate. These problems, discussed at a symposium arranged by the Geographical Society of Finland in 1951, formed the topic for a new symposium in 1976 on recent climatic trends.