Editor,
Climate change! We’ve all heard about it, and now we are beginning to experience it. For those of living in the Lake Region, it is crucial that we fully understand the likely consequences so that we can begin to take effective action to lessen its impact.
Extreme weather events
“Global warming” means not only warmer temperatures, but also more unstable weather patterns. Over the past 200 years, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and other by-products of burning fossil fuels have increased by 30 percent. It will remain there for centuries, trapping heat and increasing moisture in the atmosphere, and putting our health and the health of the planet at risk. More heat and water vapor create instability, leading to more extreme weather events. In addition, the impact of melting polar ice will be felt more strongly in northern coastal areas, such as Maine.
Memories of the 1998 ice storm and associated lengthy power losses are still vivid for many of us. The storm damaged $300 million worth of timber and many of the maple trees used for syrup. When will it be our turn to suffer the impact of a catastrophic hurricane such as Katrina? A recent report released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests that the destructive hurricanes we have recently experienced will likely be “upstaged by even more intense hurricanes over the next century as the earth’s climate is warmed by increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.”
Direct effects of rising temperatures
While average global temperatures have increased by 1 degree Fahrenheit, temperatures in Maine appear to be rising at a much higher rate. For example, over the last century, the average temperature in Lewiston has increased 3.4 degrees. Already, there are 11 more frost-free days in New England than there were two decades ago. According to the International Journal of Climatology, lake ice-out arrived nine days earlier on average in northern New England from 1850 compared to year 2000.
Governor Baldacci is calling for a 10 percent reduction in energy use by every Mainer in 2006. Yet if the recent hot summers continue and we don’t change our behavior, the trend of energy usage increasing is more likely. In a counterproductive spiral, those who buy air conditioners will use more energy producing more greenhouse gases and accelerated climate change. Meanwhile, the people who suffer most from airborne pollution are the poor, who can’t afford to buy air conditioners. They will open their windows wider, searching for that elusive cool breeze, and breathe in more particulate matter, increasing their risk of winding up in the Bridgton Hospital ER with an asthma attack or heat exhaustion.
Threats to groundwater
More extreme weather events caused by global warming will also affect Maine’s precious groundwater. On the one hand, drought can bring dry wells, as happened a few years ago. On the other hand, flooding associated with more severe storms can contaminate groundwater with illness-causing bacteria and parasites. Fecal material from overflowing sewage systems, industrial and agricultural byproducts and saltwater also can contaminate groundwater, at huge expense.
Worsened infectious diseases
Lyme Disease, carried by ticks, accounts for more than 95 percent of all reported cases of vector-borne illness in the U.S. With warmer weather comes increasing tick populations and, as a result, Lyme Disease is dramatically on the rise in Maine, more than doubling between 1994 and 1998. Ticks in New England also carry a form of animal malaria and a virus that can cause encephalitis.
Moving into the future
President Bush recently declared “America is addicted to oil.” Yet the reality is that supplies of oil are limited. Our fossil-fueled society must change.
The good news is that opportunities abound for clean technologies that manufacture every-day items, for scientific breakthroughs in sustainable energy, for entrepreneurs who find ways to reuse materials now discarded with the trash, and for communities built so that families can live, work and go to school within a few blocks on their homes.
Don’t wait-begin now to reduce our fossil fuel consumption
1) Urge our public officials to work seriously to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
2) Sign up for clean energy through Maine Interfaith Power and Light. See their Web site at www.meipl.org.
3) Use energy-efficient light bulbs. Look in Consumers Report to find the most energy efficient appliances on the market.
4) Recycle our household waste. Lower our thermostat in winter.
5) Carpool, use public transportation and drive less. If you are buying a new car, choose a more energy efficient one.
6) For more information, contact PSR/Maine at 772-6714, or go to www.psrmaine.org and click on “Fact Sheet on Global Climate Change in Maine.”
Peter Wilk
Sebago
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