The Portland Press Herald interviewed Sean Birkel, assistant professor at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute (CCI), on record high temperatures in the state during 2024. “We had a warmer than usual spring, a record hot June marked by a heatwave and very high overnight temperatures, and a record hot fall,” said Birkel, who […]
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Scarce snowpack hindered snowmobile recreation in Maine last winter, squeezing businesses that count on the sport to draw tourists. The University of Maine released an updated report on the economic contribution of snowmobiling in Maine, revealing a significant decline in impact for the 2023-24 season. According to the study, snowmobiling generated an estimated $582 million […]
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Popular Science, Earth.com, IFL Science, Daily Galaxy and Live Science highlighted a study led by Jasmine Saros, associate director of the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, which found that lakes in West Greenland began emitting carbon and decreased in water quality following record heat and precipitation. Saros and a team of researchers concluded that the […]
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West Greenland is home to tens of thousands of blue lakes that provide residents drinking water and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Yet after two months of record heat and precipitation in fall 2022, an estimated 7,500 lakes turned brown, began emitting carbon and decreased in water quality, according to a new study. Led by […]
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The Portland Press Herald interviewed Sean Birkel, Maine state climatologist and assistant professor at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, on the likelihood of a large fire developing in Maine. Birkel said the Northeast region of the country is more humid than the western part, but drought conditions in recent years have increased the […]
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The Bangor Daily News and WABI (CBS 5 in Bangor) interviewed Damian Brady, professor of marine sciences at the University of Maine, on the threats climate change presents to the aquaculture industry. Brady said challenges to the industry extend beyond the Gulf of Maine’s warming waters — which he explained also presents new opportunities — […]
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Mainebiz interviewed Gayle Zydlewski, director of the Maine Sea Grant program at the University of Maine, on the state’s efforts to boost community resilience around the effects of climate change. Zydlewski said Gov. Janet Mills’ initiatives associated with the Maine Won’t Wait Climate Action Plan boosted momentum in the state to continue tackling climate change, […]
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Maine Public interviewed Griffin Dill, integrated pest management specialist who manages the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Tick Lab, on the midcoast is experiencing the highest rates of tick borne diseases in the state and how climate change is impacting tick populations. Dill said the deer tick is prone to drying out, so it seeks […]
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USA Today cited a data visualization from the University of Maine Climate Change Institute Climate Reanalyzer that showed how the temperature of air 6.5 feet above the sea surface has increased since 1979.
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The Kennebec Journal interviewed Maine state climatologist Sean Birkel on how extreme weather patterns, such as the December 2023 flooding along the Kennebec River, will affect Maine in the future. Birkel said events like the flooding last December will get more severe with climate change. “We’re much more uncertain about the frequency part,” Birkel said. […]
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