Global Warming in Maine
Maine Falling on Meeting Global Warming Pollution Reductions - 03/26/08
The Natural Resources Council of Maine and Environment Maine highlighted the need for swift and strong action to curb global warming pollution by releasing a new report, Falling Behind: New England Must Act Now to Reduce Global Warming Pollution. The first study to produce a thorough estimate of global warming emissions through 2005, it found that global warming emissions in Maine have increased by 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E) from 2001 to 2005.
2001 is the year that New England governors signed the Climate Change Action Plan, pledging to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2010, 10% below 1990 levels by 2020, and 75-85% below 2001 levels by 2050.
The increase in global warming emissions has put the region farther from hitting these targets, which scientists agree is necessary to avoid the worst effects of global warming. To reach these targets, Maine must cut emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2010 and 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
"If Maine is serious about meeting our commitments and cutting global warming pollution, we need to take action now, beginning with the adoption of required energy efficiency standards for new buildings," said Dylan Voorhees of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. "We are falling behind, and now is the time to catch up."
Transportation is the leading source of global warming emissions in Maine. These emissions increased by 7 percent between 2001 and 2005 regionwide, accounting for the largest share of the increase, or 5 million MTCO2E. This change reflects more driving, more trucking, and more flying.
How will global warming affect Maine? - 11/20/07
A report that's due next year on global warming's potential effects in Maine will for the first time pull together research being done by scientists at the University of Maine and other institutions around the state, according to one of the project's leaders.
"We're not setting out to begin whole new research projects," said George Jacobson, a professor affiliated with the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute.
Gov. John Baldacci asked the Climate Change Institute to undertake a Maine climate change assessment and report back in November 2008 on potential effects, challenges and opportunities facing the state as the planet warms. While the shifting climate will mean the decline of some forest species and crops, it could mean the expansion of others.
The cost of the project is unknown and will be borne by the university and the research institution, according to Jacobson, one of the researchers leading the effort. While individual researchers and institutions will contribute their time and effort, the only anticipated financial cost could be to print the report for the governor, he said.
Scientists will use existing models and projections of climate change and compile brief reports from a variety of researchers with expertise ranging from marine biology to economics. They will meet periodically to review the work, Jacobson said.
Warming could hurt Maine industries - 07/12/07
A study finds the timber, fishing, farming and ski industries all would take a hit from climate change. Native birds and fish could disappear from Maine's mountains and coastal waters. Farmers could have longer growing seasons, and more droughts.
While the changes may dramatically affect the ecology and economy of the states, according to the report, the most severe and costly impacts also can be avoided if global emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases can be reduced.
"The future is in our hands," said Thomas Tietenberg, an economics professor at Colby College and one of more than 60 scientists nationwide to contribute to the report. "The economically prudent decision is to take action now."
The Union of Concerned Scientists, an advocacy group based in Cambridge, Mass., issued the 125-page report on climate change in the Northeast as a follow-up to more general findings issued last fall. It includes the most specific projections yet about how climate change could affect Maine.
Maine's commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, David Littell, said the findings are consistent with the state's own research into how global warming may affect the state. "We see a real, dramatic threat to our forests, our coasts and our fisheries," Littell said.
