A new report from the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute says that our state's climate will change as much in the next 35 years as it has in the last 100.

In the next thirty five years, the climate changes in Maine will include:

  • An increase of 3 degrees in the average temperature.
  • A growing season that will extend two weeks longer.
  • A sea level rise of about six-tenths of a foot.

When it comes to global warming, the report states, "Recent consequences include: a record number of reported Lyme disease cases; a white pine needle disease epidemic; erosion of beaches, farmland and roads; and a Gulf of Maine heat wave in 2012 that resulted in a glut of lobsters on the market and an ensuing price crash."

The report paints a grim picture for the future of our state's climate: "Even if a coordinated response succeeds in eliminating excess greenhouse gas emissions by later in this century, something that appears highly unlikely today, climate change will continue because the elevated levels of carbon dioxide can persist in the atmosphere for thousands of years."

The report goes on to say that there is a "broadening awareness that the changing climate is unfolding around us now, not just in the future, and that citizens are called on to adapt to these changes and prepare for the future."

The grim reality of what is happening to the Earth's atmosphere does not diminish the need for change, and we can all do our part!

 

 

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