page_title: Geography of Norway
section_title: Current issues
hierarchical_section_title: Geography of Norway / Environmental concerns / Current issues
caption_attribution_description: English: The Sørdalen Canyon in Rohkunborri National Park in Troms, Norway, seen from south to north from near Staggonjunni.
context_page_description: Norway is a country located in Northern Europe on the northern and western parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The majority of the country borders water, including the Skagerrak inlet to the south, the North Sea to the southwest, the North Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Barents Sea to the north. It has a land border with Sweden to the east and a shorter border with Finland and an even shorter border with Russia to the northeast.
  Norway has an elongated shape, one of the longest and most rugged coastlines in the world, and some 50,000 islands off its much indented coastline. It is one of the world's northernmost countries, and it is one of Europe's most mountainous countries, with large areas dominated by the Scandinavian Mountains. The country's average elevation is 460 metres, and 32 percent of the mainland is located above the tree line. Its country-length chain of peaks is geologically continuous with the mountains of Scotland, Ireland, and, after crossing under the Atlantic Ocean, the Appalachian Mountains of North America. Geologists hold that all these formed a single range prior to the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Pangaea.
context_section_description: Environmental concerns in Norway include how to cut greenhouse gas emissions, pollution of the air and water, loss of habitat, damage to cold-water coral reefs from trawlers, and salmon fish farming threatening the wild salmon by spawning in the rivers, thereby diluting the fish DNA. Acid rain has damaged lakes, rivers and forests, especially in the southernmost part of the country, and most wild salmon populations in Sørlandet have died. Due to lower emissions in Europe, acid rain in Norway has decreased by 40% from 1980 to 2003. Another concern is a possible increase in extreme weather. In the future, climate models predict increased precipitation, especially in the areas with currently high precipitation, and also predict more episodes with heavy precipitation within a short period, which can cause landslides and local floods. Winters will probably be significant milder, and the sea-ice cover in the Arctic ocean might melt altogether in summer, threatening the survival of the polar bear on Svalbard. Both terrestrial and aquatic species are expected to shift northwards, and this is already observed for some species; the growing red deer population is spreading northwards and eastwards, with 2008 being the first hunting season which saw more red deer (35,700) than moose shot. Migratory birds are arriving earlier; trees are coming into leaf earlier; mackerel are becoming common in summer off the coast of Troms. The total number of species in Norway are expected to rise due to new species arriving. Norwegians are statistically among the most worried when it comes to global warming and its effects, even if Norway is among the countries expected to be least negatively affected by global warming, with some possible gains.
caption: Norway has established several new national parks the last years. Sørdalen valley (canyon) in Rohkunborri National Park.
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