| By Lars Paulsson Planning his graduation trip to Europe, Jaeger Lajewski pondered Italy's renaissance buildings and Greece's ancient monuments. But with those places now even hotter and more humid than his native New Jersey, he went for less traditional Scandinavia. "We wanted to go somewhere a little bit cooler and more temperate," the architecture graduate from University of Virginia says while milling around the ferries that take tourists out to the Stockholm archipelago. "Going to Italy, Greece or Croatia would have been really, really hot as well. And we wanted to see something different." From wildfires to extreme heat, global warming has created new threats to Europe's top summer destinations. This past May marked the 12th consecutive month of record-breaking temperatures for the planet, with the global average 1.52C higher than pre-industrial levels. Already this year, Greece has been forced to close its famous Acropolis during the hottest parts of the day to keep tourists safe from deadly heat.  Cafe customers sit outside in Copenhagen on a June day. Photographer: Carsten Snejbjerg/Bloomberg Lajewski and his friends aren't the only ones to forego endless sun in southern Europe for cooler weather up north. It's a trend that's become so popular there's now a name for it, "coolcationing," promoted by lifestyle magazines and marketers around the world. Vacationers seeking respite from unbearable heat have the potential to bolster Scandinavia's travel and tourism industry, which added an estimated $124 billion to the regional economy in 2023, up about 6% from the year before. The Nordic businesses that spoke with Bloomberg — from tour operators to gift shops — predict this could be a bumper year. Scandinavia is "having a moment" with a 27% rise in bookings compared to last summer, says Misty Belles, spokeswoman for Virtuoso, a network for some 20,000 luxury travel advisers. Sweden alone has seen a 47% bump, she says. Italy, by contrast, is only up 3%. Flight searches from UK airports to Copenhagen, Bergen, Norway and Stockholm for this summer are also up by double-digit percentages, according to travel search engine KAYAK.  Hardangervidda National Park in Rjukan, Norway, in June 2023. Photographer: Marek Molnar/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images While Scandinavia isn't immune to the extreme weather brought on by global warming, debilitating heat waves are still very rare. Temperatures tend to be at least 10C (18F) below southern Europe and a cool breeze is more typical than the choking humidity familiar further south. That's conducive for the wide range of activities on offer. It's perfectly possible to spend a week chilling on the beach in Denmark (the best ones rival those in the Mediterranean), but many foreigners come for the hiking, reindeers and northern lights. Or to explore the trendy art, design and culture scenes in Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen. Winter tourism is also getting a boost because of the lack of snow in the Alps, with resorts upgrading to meet the standards of an international clientele.  The 'Your rainbow panorama' by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson atop the ARoS Art Museum in Aarhus, Denmark. Photographer: Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images Climate change isn't the full story behind Scandinavia's tourism uptick. Currency depreciation in Norway and Sweden has made those countries more attractive to foreigners, and there's a rising tide globally in post-Covid travel. Southern Europe is still attracting plenty more travelers. But Nordic tourism agencies are keen to pitch their region as a place where travelers can safely explore the great outdoors in the middle of summer. "When you have these heat waves on the continent, the playgrounds are too hot, attractions are closed and you end up having to stay indoors most of the time," says Nina Kjonigsen, a spokeswoman for Visit Norway.  Visitors take in the Stockholm skyline from Skinnarviksberget on a June day. Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg To be sure, coolcations may be a bit of a misnomer. It can get beachy hot in Scandinavian cities in the summer, and climate change means average temperatures are rising everywhere — especially in latitudes furthest away from the equator, which are warming at the fastest rate. Meanwhile, global warming doesn't just mean heat, but also increased risks for natural disasters like floods and wildfires. Back in Stockholm, Kazu Hirano, a mechanical engineer from Japan, is admiring the view over the parliament building from the palace. He's taking in the city for five days with his partner before flying south to the center of the European heat. The conference in Athens he was looking forward to attending no longer appeals. "It's going to be really hot!" he says. "I'm worried." Read and share a full version of this story on Bloomberg.com. For unlimited access to climate and energy news and original data and graphics reporting, please subscribe. -
The UK election is a rare climate win. While environmental policy in the US and Europe is in jeopardy, Keir Starmer's Labour Party has a manifesto that puts climate and clean energy front and center. -
There's a smart way to put AI in the trash. Restaurants, buffets and caterers trying to cut down on food waste are using high-tech trash cans that gather granular details about items being discarded. -
Even thermometers are too hot. In May, a village on the outskirts of Delhi registered a temperature of 52.9C, or just over 127F. Except the figure was the result of a sensor that malfunctioned in the heat. -
The EU's largest party wants to save combustion engines. The European People's Party is set to urge the bloc to revise its car emissions rules in order to keep the combustion engine alive past 2035. -
A top verifier of CO2 claims is in crisis. By encouraging the use of carbon credits, the Science Based Targets initiative breached its own procedures, according to its council of technical advisors. -
Norway is restricting some Arctic property sales. After the owners of a plot on Svalbard put it on the market, the government ordered that any sales on the islands have to be cleared by the state in advance. -
American workers will get protections from heat stress. Workers exposed to a heat index of 80F (27C) or higher will have to be provided access to drinking water, a break area and rest breaks when needed. -
To boost ocean research, scientists are turning to superyachts. Demand for maritime research vessels outstrips supply, a gap that some "adventure" yacht owners are filling by donating free boat time.  The Lurssen Ahpo superyacht during the Discover Boating Miami International Boat Show in February. Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg The industries that should be thriving at this stage of the energy transition — batteries, green hydrogen, "clean" steel — are square pegs that don't fit in the round hole of capital markets. The latter are well-suited to asset-light companies but inhospitable to capital-intensive, asset-heavy energy businesses. As a result, many promising green-tech innovators are entering the "valley of death." It's the final resting place for firms too advanced to interest VCs that make small, speculative bets, but too small and unproven to attract infrastructure investors that write the really big checks.  An employee in front of a steel furnace at BlueScope Steel Ltd. Port Kembla steelworks in Australia. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg Over the past few years, tech companies have seeded hundreds of startups that want to sell carbon removal credits and help companies meet climate goals. But the failure of one major startup, Running Tide, raised questions about the market's viability. On Zero, we hear from Nan Ransohoff, head of climate at Stripe, about the future of the nascent industry. We're just a few days away from the first Bloomberg Green Festival, taking place in Seattle from July 10-13. Get tickets while you still can! | 
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