Professors Cited in Press Herald Story on Changing Ecosystems

The Portland Press Herald interviewed Rick Wahle, research associate professor in UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences, and Jeff Runge, professor of oceanography in UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences and a researcher at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland, on the effects of changing ecosystems. Because humans are dumping carbon dioxide into seawater, oceans are getting warmer and more acidic, even in the Gulf of Maine, according to researchers. Runge says “it’s starting to become recognized as a serious issue” but scientists aren’t doing a good job at understanding the effects in the Gulf of Maine yet, while Wahle says the changes have lobstermen worried about potential negative effects.