The future of snow mirrors the future of the Arctic flora and fauna, the future of livelihoods as well as people in the Arctic. And what is snow that has never fallen from the sky?

Snow and ice have protected our planet for thousands
of years. Snow and ice cover effectively reflect solar radiation back to space. They
have high reflectivity or albedo. As a result of climate change, snow and ice melt.
The Earth’s cooling system is changing. 

For more than
twenty years, Sirpa Rasmus has studied the structure of snow and the ways natural
phenomena affect livelihoods, such as reindeer husbandry.

Rasmus,
45, is a geophysicist and researcher in the Global Change Research Group of the
Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland. She lives in
Jyväskylä. 

Geophysics examines earthquakes, avalanches,
water quality in lakes. It is also needed to assess the effects of climate
change.

– Geophysics is fascinating because it uses the tools of
physics, but examines tangible and visible things, Rasmus says. 

Rasmus has done a lot of fieldwork, digging holes in the snow, taking
samples, and also analysing the structure of snow using computer modelling. In the
field, the most important tools of the snow scientist are shovel, sampling probe,
balance, and thermometer. 

– The snow is also
extensively studied in the northern polar regions and Antarctica. The expeditions
are longer, but the methods are similar to those used anywhere
else. 

A researcher’s work is often lonely but
rewarding. When you examine a snow pit, you notice many things. 

– The snow in the bottom layers of the snow is called sugar snow or depth
hoar. It was only quite late in my career that I learned that it had never fallen
from the sky, but that the crystals formed under the snow cover. 

"lumimittaus_Kilpisjärvellä_Tony
Snow
measurements in Kilpisjärvi. Photo: Sirpa Rasmus’s homealbum

In northern livelihoods, such as agriculture, forestry and reindeer
husbandry, snow affects everything. Rasmus explores how reindeer husbandry adapts to
climate change. 

Reindeer herders are very interested in
snow modelling and satellite data. They also dig snow pits and make a lot of other
snow observations in their own work. Researchers and reindeer herders are actively
exchanging ideas. 

– When we talk about snow, we are
conducting a debate of equals. 

The geophysicists are
puzzled by the big questions: How does climate change affect snow? Will there be
snowy winters in the future?

Many of Rasmus’s colleagues come
from Canada, Switzerland, the United States, France, or Japan. They are countries
with many avalanches and perhaps as a result they have many researchers specialising
in the structure of snow.

– Snow cover can be very different
depending on the year. Last year was an enlightening example in Finland. Although
the winter was warm, there was more snow in the north than usual.

–  In the Global Change Research Group, we think that everything
affects everything, and it is not possible to consider the phenomena from the point
of view of natural sciences only, Rasmus says. Her long-standing colleagues include
Professor Bruce Forbes and biologist Minna Turunen. 

There are currently large international projects Rasmus is working on,
researching the economic life of Northern Fennoscandia and the Jamal region and the
effects of climate change. She does part of her work as a researcher for the
University of Helsinki.

Rasmus is also studying the ice layers
that form in the snow in a research project funded by the National Science
Foundation of the United States.

In the future, Rasmus wants to
explore snow patches around Halti in the Käsivarsi Wilderness area – the snow in the
patches can be more than ten years old. 

Text: Johannes Roviomaa
Photos: Johannes Roviomaa and Sirpa
Rasmus’s home album