An Arctic village in Finland strikes a hit with a fake bid for Summer Olympics
FILE - This Jan. 23, 2016, file photo, shows the Finnish-Russian border crossing point in Salla, northern Finland. Salla has launched a firmly tongue-in-cheek bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics, hoping to use its campaign to raise awareness about climate change and global warming. (Jussi Nukari/ Lehtikuva via AP, File )
Helsinki, Feb 9 (AFP/APP): A snow-covered Arctic village in Finland has struck a viral hit with a fake bid for the Summer Olympics to highlight the impact of climate change in the far north.
Authorities in Salla, a remote municipality of 3,500 people in northern Finland, in January released a pitch to become a candidate city for the 2032 Games, despite average temperatures barely climbing above freezing for six months of the year.
“I’ve never felt warmth before, but I’m sure it’s coming,” one resident says in the video bid, which warns that a snow-covered tundra will become a beach volleyball pitch and a frozen river the site for surfing if climate change is not addressed.
The video describes the town as “in the middle of nowhere” and says it is the coldest place in Finland. In winter, temperatures regularly sink to minus 10 to minus 20 degrees Celsius (14 degrees to minus four degrees Fahrenheit). A website introduces the campaign’s mascot, a reindeer called “Kesa” (“Summer”) which is plagued by mosquitoes — a reference to insects migrating further north in the Arctic region.
Scientists say the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average, endangering local wildlife as well as releasing carbon stored in the melting permafrost. The video has become a hit on social media, garnering around 400,000 views, mayor Erkki Parkkinen told AFP.
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