Learn Finnish: Kriisi kärjistynee seuraavana vuonna. - The crisis will probably escalate next year.

The base verb is kärjistyä (to escalate). To form the potential mood, you take the strong vowel stem (kärjisty-), add the potential marker -ne-, and then the third-person singular ending. Since the subject is kriisi (it), the personal ending is a doubling of the final vowel, giving us kärjistynee.

Does kärjistynee refer to the present or the future?

The present potential can refer to both present and future probabilities. Since Finnish doesn't have a dedicated future tense, the time expression seuraavana vuonna (next year) clearly places the probable action in the future: "will probably escalate".

Where does the verb kärjistyä come from?

It derives from the noun kärki, which means "point" or "tip". The verb kärjistyä literally means "to come to a point", but at the B2 level you will often see it used abstractly to mean "to escalate" or "to become acute", especially regarding crises, conflicts, or arguments.

Why are the words for "next year" in the essive case (seuraavana vuonna)?