A million cubic metres of timber was felled by storms in southern Finland during July 2002.
The information, contained in a forest damage survey published annually by the Finnish Forest Research Institute and a forest condition monitoring report conducted under UN/ECE and EC programmes, also shows trees were affected by long dry periods from July to September and heavy snow falls in the winter. Damage is expected to become evident next summer.
Air pollution has decreased substantially in Finland because of agreements to limit emissions. Acid deposition in 2000 was less than during the period 1987-1996 on average, while concentrations of gaseous compounds in the air have also gone down from 1985 levels.
