Adaptation to floods and droughts in the Baltic Sea basin under climate change

There has been an increasing body of evidence regarding the ongoing climate change at variety of scales. Since the climate and freshwater systems are closely inter-connected, a climate change induces changes in the freshwater systems. Even if presented climate change impacts on water resources in the Baltic region are not as strong as in other areas, and some of them are advantageous, adaptation would be needed to avoid adverse impacts and to enhance beneficial effects. Adaptation strategies in the Baltic Sea region are currently at the stage of research or policy investigations. When considering adaptation, one addresses projected impacts - in much of the Baltic Sea basin, precipitation and river runoff would increase in winter, but they may decrease in summer in the south (according to some, but not all, models). There are projections of more intense summer precipitation in the Baltic region, but also more frequent summer droughts are likely. The present paper also discusses the adaptation notions and concepts, mitigation vs. adaptation, and the uncertainties.