نبذة مختصرة : Severe droughts cause substantial damage to different socio-economic sectors, and even Finland, which has abundant water resources, is not immune to their impacts. To assess the implications of a severe drought in Finland, we carried out a national scale drought impact analysis. Firstly, we simulated water levels and discharges during the severe drought of 1939–1942 (the reference drought) in present-day Finland with a hydrological model. Secondly, we estimated how climate change would alter droughts. Thirdly, we assessed the impact of drought on key water use sectors, with a focus on hydropower and water supply. The results indicate that the long-lasting reference drought caused the discharges to decrease at most by 80% compared to the average annual minimum discharges. The water levels generally fell to the lowest levels in the largest lakes in Central and South-Eastern Finland. Climate change scenarios project on average a small decrease in the lowest water levels during droughts. Severe drought would have a significant impact on water-related sectors, reducing water supply and hydropower production. In this way drought is a risk multiplier for the water–energy–food security nexus. We suggest that the resilience to droughts could be improved with region-specific drought management plans and by including droughts in existing regional preparedness exercises. ; Peer reviewed
Relation: Sustainability; Volume 11, issue 8; Veijalainen, N, Ahopelto, L, Marttunen, M, Jääskeläinen, J, Britschgi, R, Orvomaa, M, Belinskij, A & Keskinen, M 2019, ' Severe Drought in Finland: Modeling Effects on Water Resources and Assessing Climate Change Impacts ', Sustainability, vol. 11, no. 8, 2450 . https://doi.org/10.3390/su11082450; PURE UUID: 0a290ba5-a658-430c-9ef1-340b3620aa1f; PURE ITEMURL: https://research.aalto.fi/en/publications/0a290ba5-a658-430c-9ef1-340b3620aa1f; PURE LINK: http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066923959&partnerID=8YFLogxK; PURE LINK: http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2450; PURE FILEURL: https://research.aalto.fi/files/33560725/sustainability_11_02450_v2.pdf; https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/38206; URN:NBN:fi:aalto-201906033291
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