Ilmastailmaan

Ilmastailmaan is a Finnish neologism that translates roughly to "climate in the air" or "climate atmosphere." It is used to refer to the state and properties of the Earth's atmosphere as shaped by ongoing climate change, including alterations in composition, temperature, humidity, and cloud and aerosol properties.

The term is not yet part of formal climatology; it has emerged in Finnish climate communication and journalism in the 2020s to describe how climate change manifests in atmospheric conditions beyond short-term weather.

Key elements associated with ilmastailmaan include greenhouse gas concentrations (CO2, CH4, N2O), aerosols, atmospheric temperature profiles, water vapor, cloud cover, isotopic signatures, and circulation patterns. Measurement relies on satellite observations, weather balloons, ground-based stations, and numerical models to track long-term trends and regional variations in the atmosphere.

Applications of the term are chiefly in public communication and policy discussions, where ilmastailmaan is used to convey how climate change is reflected in atmospheric conditions and to complement technical concepts such as climate forcing, atmospheric chemistry, and meteorology. Because it is not a standardized term, its meaning can vary and may overlap with existing concepts, which can limit precision in scientific use.

See also: climate change, atmosphere, greenhouse gases, radiative forcing, meteorology.