Natural resources and the environment
Resource accounting and environment statistics
Structure and scope
The first Norwegian natural resource accounts were established for energy, minerals, forest, fish and land use in the early 1980s.
The purpose of these accounts was to provide better and more long-term planning of the utilization of the natural resources. It was envisaged that this could be obtained by new and better data, better coordination, common presentation, integration of natural resource planning and traditional economic planning and integration of national planning and regional (subnational) planning.
Resource policy and planning in general were larger issues in Norway in 1980 than in 1990. Both managerial and public interests have gradually shifted towards environmental issues, like changes in global climate and the depletion of the ozone layer. This has led to less interest for natural resource accounts, and regular accounts in their original form are only worked out for energy. For fish and forest only the reserve or stock part of the accounts are regularly updated.
On the other hand, the energy accounts have been supplemented by tables on pollution emission to the air. These emissions are calculated mainly on the basis of energy consumption figures in the energy accounts, and the tables can be regarded as an extension of energy accounts to the first step of physical environmental accounts for air (emission accounts).
Energy
The resource account for energy (tables 2.1 and 2.2) follows the energy goods from production, transformation and imports to exports and final use. The overall energy balance (tables 2.3 and 2.4) shows supply and use of energy in another way. The figures refer to energy consumed in Norway, independent of the consumer's nationality. Transport purposes are dealt with as own sectors. Energy for other purposes is distributed by industry. Energy used for non-energy purposes is not included in "Net inland consumption".
From 1976 to 1993 the total energy consumption in Norway, excluding the energy sectors and international shipping, increased by an average of 1.2 per cent annually. Electricity consumption increased by an average of 2.5 per cent during the same period, i.e. by more than the total energy consumption.
Oil consumption decreased during the last part of the period. The strong increase in the 1980s was due to a high rate of economic growth and a change from oil to electricity due to rising oil prices and the higher cost of installing oil-based equipment. During the years from 1987 to 1991 there was a decline in economic growth without a corresponding decline in electricity consumption. The reason is the continued shift from oil to electricity.
Fish
In the beginning of the 1980s a structure for a resource account for fish was developed by Statistics Norway. This account should, like the other resource accounts, give a general overview of reserves, extraction and use. Complete accounts have not been given priority in the later years, but limited accounts are prepared annually for the publication Natural Resources and the Environment, as a part of general resource and environment statistics.
Calculations of stock sizes are made each year by marine researchers. Based on the most recent estimates of the stocks, recursive calculations are made regarding development of the stocks. In this way the estimates of the stock sizes in previous years are re-evaluated.
Norwegian spring-spawning herring, northeast Arctic cod and capelin are 3 of the most important stocks i Norwegian waters. Since the end of the 1960s, all these stocks have experienced historically low stock sizes. The herring stock was fished down at the end of the 1960s, but has gradually increased since the mid-1970s. The cod stock reached a mini-mum in 1983. This stock has also increased in recent years. The stock size of Barents Sea capelin decreased gradually from around 1980, collapsing in 1985, partly due to fishing, but also due to natural causes. In the recent years the stock has increased rapidly.
Emissions to air
There are 3 main sources of air emissions: Stationary combustion, mobile combustion and processes/evaporation. Emission figures are calculated by combining data on the consumption of different energy goods with specific emission coefficients.
In the 1970s, the level of emissions of most compounds changed at the same rate as oil consumption. There was a slight decrease in emissions in the early 1970s due to a marked rise in the price of oil and lower oil consumption. This decrease was followed by a steady increase in emissions up to about 1980, when a new rise in oil prices again led to a decrease in emissions. In the 1980s, 2 different groups of emissions have followed different paths. The one group, consisting of NOx, NMVOC, CO and CO2, continued to follow oil consumption. One specific cause of the increase in emissions of these compounds was higher consumption of transport fuels. In recent years, however, the increase in emissions has been much diminished by a lower rate of economic growth, and therefore less consumption of oil. As for the second group, consisting of SO2 and lead (Pb), emissions have been reduced substantially; the level of emissions was in 1991 less than half the level in the early 1970s. This is a result of an active environmental policy directed at these compounds. A reduction in the consumption of heavy oil in addition to closing down particularly polluting factories has been important. The emission figures for recent years have been affected by a gradual decrease in the use of petroleum products in mainland Norway, which has helped reduce emissions. However, much of this reduction was counteracted by increased emissions due to a higher level of activity in the North Sea.
Meteorological conditions
Weather observations
Studies of the weather and climatic developments in any one particular place require access to a long, consistent series of local weather observations. The need for consistency entails first and foremost that the same method of observation is employed every time and that the surrounding area does not undergo any change during the period of observation. In Norway access to long and consistent observations is limited. Furthermore, the chances of correcting for any break in consistency are small, both on account of the wide local climatic variations and the comparatively long distances between weather stations.
The oldest consecutive data on meteorological conditions in Norway relate to air temperature in our 3 largest cities. Statistics on air temperature in Trondheim are available from as far back as 1761, whereas those for Bergen and Oslo go back to 1835 and 1837, respectively. Not until the period following the establishment of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute was it possible to obtain systematic measurements of air temperature and precipitation from observation stations in other parts of the country.
Supplementary to the figures for Trondheim, Bergen and Oslo, table 2.7 also gives figures from 1871 onwards for the mean air temperature at 7 weather stations situated in other parts of the country. Details of annual precipitation recorded at 12 stations since 1896 are presented in table 2.8. The series of observations for both air temperature and precipitation have been examined for influences due to changes in the instruments used or to alterations in the local surroundings. It was found necessary to adjust some data in the series relating to 4 of the stations. Measured over many years, the mean values for the stations, both with regard to temperature and precipitation, are very similar to the corresponding average values for all observation stations (With regard to air temperature, only observation stations less than 3 300 feet (1 000 metres) above sea level.) in Norway.
The standard method used to eliminate random variations in observations is to calculate an average over many years for the various climatic variables. In order to establish common international grounds for reference, the World Meteorological Organisation has decided that the 30-year periods 1901-1930, 1931-1960 and 1961-1990 shall be international norm periods. Mean values for 30-year periods, at present 1961-1990, also represent the basis for national climatic norms.
The climate of Norway
Norway has a maritime climate, featuring warm winters and cold summers. Due to the warm Gulf Stream running through the North Atlantic, which influences air temperature, Norway has a far warmer climate than its latitude would otherwise indicate. The warmest part of Norway is along the coast from Lista to Stad. The observation stations at Skudeneshavn on the island of Karmøy and in Bergen show the highest annual mean temperature (7.7_C). The coldest area, apart from the moun-tainous regions, is the Finnmarksvidda Plateau. Sihccajárvi has the lowest annual mean temperature of all the Norwegian Meteorological Institute's observation stations, with -3.1_C.
Two main features distinguish the distribution of mean winter air temperatures. The one is the high temperature along the coast; the coastline from Lindesnes to Lofoten has average monthly temperatures above 0_C. The other main feature is the low temperatures that characterise inland lowlands. The lowest temperature ever recorded by an official observation station in Norway was -51.4_C, recorded at Karasjok on 1 January 1886. As the sun grows warmer and the snow melts in the spring, the southernmost areas of the country experience higher average monthly temperatures than the areas along the west coast. In the summer, the southern tip of eastern Norway and the south coast are normally the warmest places in the country. The highest average monthly temperature is 17.1_C at Oslo's Fornebu Airport in July, and the highest temperature ever recorded by one of Norway's official observation stations was 35.6_C, recorded at Nesbyen on 20 June 1970. In autumn the temperature distribution returns to the winter pattern. The inner reaches of the Oslo Fjord are usually the warmest areas in Norway in August and September, while the southern coast is warmest in October and the west coast is warmest once again during the winter months. On the Finnmarksvidda Plateau, mean daily temperatures usually drop below 0_C before 15 October.
The average wind velocity is highest along the coast and in the mountains. On an annual basis, the wind velocity in the outer coastal areas averages 5-9 m/s (metres per second), while it averages 6 m/s in the open highlands. In lower inland areas the average wind speed is 2-3 m/s. Wind speeds are highest along the coast in the winter and inland in the summer.
Climatic changes
The last Ice Age ended about 9000 years ago in Scandinavia. The climatic changes that have taken place from that time up to the present have not been steady and continuous; there have been major climatic variations between warm and cold periods. During the period from 8 000-5 000 years ago, summer temperatures were 2-3_C higher than they are today.
Thermometer observations made since about 1850 show a rise in Norway's mean annual temperature up until 1934. That rise was followed by a decline until 1986. Since 1986, the temperature has seen a distinct rise once again. At several stations 1990 was the warmest year for 150 years.
Systematic precipitation measurements began in 1896. While there has been a slight increase in precipitation amounts since then, the increase has not been evenly distributed throughout the country.
Both air temperature and precipitation fluctuate significantly from year to year, as well as over periods spanning a number of years. So far the observations neither prove nor disprove the theory that the recent rise in air temperature is permanent, i.e. due to the "greenhouse effect" caused by higher concentrations of gases in the atmosphere.
The average annual temperatures during the 1961-1990 period were lower than those of the preceding norm period (1931-1960). The new temperature norms are almost 1_C lower on the Finnmarksvidda Plateau, where all monthly norms are also lower than the preceding ones. Otherwise, the most significant differences have been observed in the winter, especially in areas featuring the most typical inland climates.
The new precipitation norms are higher than in the preceding period over large parts of the country. The increase is more than 15 per cent in some of the areas with the most abundant precipitation. In the areas protected from the moist air masses that move in from the west, on the other hand, average precipitation decreased by up to 5 per cent.