Climate Change Points
New England Impacts
Snowfall levels in New England are declining - over the past 50 years the mean annual snowfall in Keene, NH has dropped by 23 inches, while Berlin, NH has seen a drop of 17 inches. See The Boston Globe article for more.
Modest global warming predictions suggest a warming of 6 degrees by 2100, making Boston’s climate similar to that of Richmond, VA. See The Boston Globe article for more.
Higher temperatures will accelerate evaporation and cause drier conditions and droughts. Water shortages will not only stress the water resources used by Massachusetts residents, but will cause a precipitous drop in rainbow, brook and brown trout. Coastal areas will be at risk of saltwater contamination in their aquifers. See the Massachusetts Climate Change Action Plan (pdf file) for more.
The region’s maple syrup industry will be forced northward. See the Massachusetts Climate Change Action Plan for more.
Increased coastline flooding will occur due to more extreme weather events and rising sea levels. Risk Management Solutions’ computer modeling efforts of potential hurricane damage has led to dropped and reduced insurance coverage for Cape Cod residents, in conjunction with increased premiums. See the Massachusetts Climate Change Action Plan or The Eagle Tribune article for more.
An insect, the woolly adelgid, has made its way north due to a more hospitable winter climate; the winters were formerly too cold for it to survive. The infestation of these insects is causing the die-off of Massachusetts’ hemlock trees. See The Boston Globe editorial for more information.
Global Impacts
Greenland’s icy mountains and entire ice cap could disappear in the next 1,000 years due to global warming. If this melting occurs, ocean levels will rise by seven meters, drowning low-level coastlines around the world. View full story in Nature, April 8, 2004 or a summary at The Guardian.
A study for the Pentagon in October 2003 concluded that abrupt climate change from global warming could trigger war among nations for food, water and energy, posing new threats to U.S. national security. View the study and an article about it from the New York Times.
An international group of scientists discovered that climate change is a "full-fledged force for [species] extinction." View full article in Nature, January 8, 2004.
World Wildlife Fund research shows that, under the worst-case scenario for global warming, the coral populations of the Great Barrier Reef will collapse by 2100. View a summary of the February 2004 report.
Alaska’s glaciers have melted more in the last 100 years than at any time during the past 10 centuries. In 1999- 2001, they thinned almost 6 feet per year, doubling the amount of water flushing into the sea. The Conservation Law Foundation has conducted research on this subject and on many others that directly affect New England.
Forest location, composition and productivity will be altered by changes in temperature and precipitation. Increased temperatures could increase fire risk in areas that experience increased aridity, and climate change could promote the proliferation of diseases and pests that attack tree species. View the full report at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
Storms
Using highly detailed data from the IPCC and NOAA to monitor sea temperature anomalies over the past half-century, James Elsner of Florida State University examined the statistical connection between the average global near-surface air temperature and Atlantic sea surface temperature, comparing the two factors with hurricane intensities over the past 50 years. He found that "average air temperatures during hurricane season between June and November are useful in predicting sea surface temperatures—a vital component in nourishing hurricane winds as they strengthen in warm waters—but not vice-versa." Elsner’s paper is to be published 23 August, 2006 in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union. According to the AGU, this analysis "helps provide verification of a linkage between atmospheric warming caused largely by greenhouse gases and the recent upswing in frequency and intensity of Atlantic hurricanes, including Katrina and Rita."
Munich Re, the world’s biggest re-insurance company, attributed 2003’s sharp increase in weather-related disasters around the world to global warming. The company put the combined cost of last year’s global natural disasters at more than $60 billion, approximately $5 billion more than 2002. See full story at GreenBiz.
Responses
In March 2004, The Climate Stewardship Act was introduced by U.S. Representatives Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) and John W. Olver (D-MA). This bill is the House companion of the bill introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT) and John McCain (R-AZ) in 2003. Starting in 2010, the bill would cap greenhouse gas emissions of the electricity generation, transportation, industrial, and commercial economic sectors at the 2000 level, while providing for market-based trading of emission allowances.