Mayewski interviewed for BDN article on new climate report

The Bangor Daily News interviewed Paul Mayewski, director of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, about his recently released climate report for the article, “Maine fisheries and blueberries could be at stake due to climate change, report says.” Mayewski collaborated with Sean Birkel, a UMaine research assistant professor and Maine State Climatologist, to produce the report, which provides details about the potential effects of climate change on Maine’s coast and presents five scenarios predicting the future of climate change impacts in Maine, according to the BDN. The report forecasts an overall trend of warmer, wetter weather with rising sea temperatures, shorter winters, longer summers and more frequent storms, the article states. “Our goal through reports like this is to give people a better idea of how the climate has changed in the past few decades, and understanding what the plausible scenarios are for future climate and how this might impact, in this case, fish and blueberries,” said Mayewski. The scenarios range from a situation involving little to no change in climate, to an abrupt Arctic sea-ice collapse and corresponding rapid increase in global temperature, the BDN reported. The researchers also are creating a tool to allow members of the public to access climate data and use it to see predicted conditions for the near future. “We want to make it a publicly available platform, which we’re going to start working on this year so people can answer those questions for themselves,” said Mayewski. “One they begin to realize there is or isn’t a link between something they do and climate they become more engaged, they vote that way and they can come to us and talk about learning more.” Work done at the Climate Change Institute, especially regional reports like this one, can help increase awareness about climate change and help people prepare for its impact, the article states. “Climate change is the biggest security threat we have in the world,” said Mayewski. “We need to be smart about knowing what’s going to happen, plan for it, and, in some situations, we can even use it to our advantage.” SentinelSource.com also published the BDN article.