Climate Extremes in the Baltic: The Saulkrasti Case

16 October 2023

Louis Celliers. Hamburg, Germany

Climate change is still shrouded in mystery for many people. Scenarios, model ensembles, uncertainty, sea-level rise, slow-onset and extreme events. Those in the know (including me) use these words with ease and assume them to be a common currency to explain the changing world. Well, it is not.

Just days after the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Interreg BEACH-SOS project was started in Saulkrasti Municipality, its tourism infrastructure including the landscape was affected by a storm event. We are grateful that we started the climate change conversation in this community and for their willingness to engage. They need climate change information to make wise decisions about their future. Easier said than done!

Some Facts provided by the Saulkrasti Municipality: The damage shown is from the storm on 7 October 2023. The extent of the storm damage is currently being assessed. The erosion caused damage to the dune area (a natural asset and ecosystem service provider), trees were uprooted and the beach infrastructure and amenities were damaged. The previous storm with damage of this magnitude was on 12 August 2017.