How is Climate Change Affecting Maine Wildlife?

Maine Bobcat photo by Luke Lermond

Camden/Rockport, Maine - Ecologist Ethel Wilkerson will lead a presentation assessing and addressing the effects of climate change on Maine species at Merryspring Nature Center on Tuesday, September 9 at 12:00 noon.

Climate change has important implications for many of Maine’s wild plants and animals, as well as for our communities and economy.  Wilkerson will identify many of these species, discussing what determines their resilience or vulnerability, and the current efforts being made to prepare them for changes in climate and weather.

Wilkerson serves as Program Manager of the Sustainable Economies Program at Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences in Brunswick. She holds an MS in Aquatic Ecology and an MPA in Environmental Policy from Indiana University.

This presentation is part of the Summer Talk Series at Merryspring, co-sponsored by Camden National Bank and Jaret & Cohn Real-Estate.

Admission to the Tuesday Talks is free to Merryspring members and children, with a nominal $5 fee for non-members.

Merryspring is a member-supported, non-profit nature education center and park located at the end of Conway Road just off Rt. 1 by the Hannaford shopping plaza in Camden. For more information, call Merryspring at 236-2239 or email info@merryspring.org.

“Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know and Do”

“Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know and Do” June 17

Twelve of the warmest years on record have been since 1998. The year 2012 was the warmest year on record in the U.S., and June 2013 was one of the world’s warmest Junes on record. As our planet warms, extreme weather events are becoming more and more common – causing loss of life and costing taxpayers billions of dollars annually. We are certainly aware of the dire predictions of our changing climate. How could we not be? News about deadly heat waves, destructive storms, devastating drought, flash flooding, shrinking water tables, melting ice, and rising sea levels are widespread in our media and daily conversations.

Dave and Sue Oakes will present “Climate Change: what everyone needs to know and do” at the Camden Public Library on Tuesday, June 17 at 7:00 pm. Dave and Sue participated in a climate leaders training program in July 2013 led by former Vice President Al Gore. Some of the information they will present is from Al Gore’s personal slide show, including up-to-date data and trends. The talk will briefly introduce how and why our climate is changing and focus on what can be done about it.  The talk will look at both the “science” and the “social science” of climate change, and explore actions that each of us can take to mitigate the effects of climate change. Dave and Sue Oakes are co-founders of the Center for Ecological Living and Learning (CELL) in Hope, Maine.

The Department of Energy states that the damage to the electric grid alone from severe hurricanes, winter storms, heat waves and floods since 2003 has cost an average 33 billion dollars per year. When we include the social costs of carbon (e.g. decreases in agricultural productivity and human health, and property damage), future costs are staggering to consider.” And we know the culprit of it all,” says Oakes, “our addiction to burning fossil fuels. Knowing the source of the problem, however, does not necessarily lead to quick and systemic solutions.”

 “What is at the root of the problem? Why aren’t we doing more to solve it? Why should we? What can we do to make a difference? What role can one life play in making a difference? How do we work in community to bring about change?

If you are interested in exploring these questions in more detail,,” say Dave and Sue Oakes, “join us for a public talk and discussion on June 17.”

“Climate Reality”

“Climate Reality” June 4

Environmental lawyer Sharon Tisher will present a slide talk on “Climate Reality: Connecting the dots between extreme weather and global warming” at the Camden Public Library on Tuesday evening, June 4, at 7:00 pm. Tisher teaches environmental law and energy policy courses in the School of Economics and Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program at the University of Maine. She was recently trained by Al Gore to give this current version of his Nobel Prize-winning slide show on climate change. Through remarkable photographs, instructional animations, and film, the show explores the connections between global warming and extreme weather events,  including severe storms, droughts, and wildfires.

Hurricane Sandy prompted the cover of Bloomberg Business week to declare in supersized print, “IT’S GLOBAL WARMING, STUPID,” and  gave even the Wall Street Journal occasion to ponder climate policy. This, from Darrell Delamaide, WSJ’s MarketWatch, Oct. 31, 2012:  “This week’s ‘perfect storm,’ coming on the heels of last summer’s scorching drought, was a reminder that climate change, in fact, is not an academic subject.” No less an authority than Munich Re, one of the world’s biggest reinsurers, said in a recent study on severe weather in North America that analysis of its comprehensive database of losses from natural catastrophes “provides new evidence for the emerging impact of climate change.”

The Climate Reality Project, founded and chaired by former Vice President and Nobel Laureate Al Gore, is dedicated to unleashing a global cultural movement demanding action on the climate crisis. Despite overwhelming international scientific consensus on climate change, the global community still lacks the resolve to implement meaningful solutions.

The Climate Reality Project employs cutting-edge communications and grassroots engagement tools “to break the dam of inaction and raise the profile of the climate crisis to its proper state of urgency. With a global movement more than 2 million strong and a grassroots network of Climate Leaders trained by Chairman Al Gore, we stand up to denial, press for solutions, and spread the truth about climate change to empower our leaders to solve the climate crisis,” says the Project website.

Symposium Tackles Subject of Food Security and Climate Change

Camden, Maine - How climate change may affect global food supplies and security, around the world and here in Maine, will be the subject of a one-day symposium on Saturday, May 4, 2013, at the First Congregational Church in Camden.

“Food and Climate Change:  Global Challenges and Maine Responses” is being organized by the Quaker Peace Center of the Midcoast Meeting of Friends and the First Congregational Church of Camden, in collaboration with the Camden Conference.

“Global warming poses enormous risks to global food production and security,” said Brewster Grace, an event organizer for the Peace Center of the Midcoast Meeting of Friends.  “Major effects of increased greenhouse gas emissions—droughts, floods, rising temperatures, and unpredictable growing seasons—are now devastating many regions of the world. Maine is already affected by ocean acidification and plant infestations as temperatures rise.”

“We can see the trends in temperature, weather patterns, and extreme weather, but there are questions concerning where these trends will take us and what we can do to assure that critical production of our farms and fisheries continues to meet the needs of growth populations,” said Bruce Cole, event organizer for the First Congregational Church of Camden.

The symposium will address how global farming and fishing efforts can be modified to adapt to climate change and how we can use farming to mitigate the impacts of climate change. It will then consider the relevance of these global activities to farming and fishing in Maine.

Grace noted that agriculture now accounts for about 30 percent of total worldwide greenhouse gas emissions through the production of fertilizer, the use of energy to produce and transport food, and deforestation for crops and grazing. “But agriculture also contributes to mitigating climate change by sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere, especially through organic farming and forest and land conservation, in both of which Maine sets an exceptional example.”

Speakers for the May 4 symposium include:

Molly Anderson, Partridge Chair in Food and Sustainable Agriculture Systems, College of the Atlantic

Seth Shames, EcoAgriculture Partners, Washington, D.C.

Doreen Stabinsky, Professor of Global Environment Politics, College of the Atlantic

Chellie Pingree, (invited) U.S. House of Representative

Julia Olmstead, Senior Associate, Rural Communities Program, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Timothy Griffin, Associate Professor and Director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program, Tufts University

John Jemison, Cooperative Extension, University of Maine

Robin Alden, Penobscot East Resource Center, Stonington

The May 4 symposium, “Food and Climate Change:  Global Challenges and Maine Responses,” is also a community event of the Camden Conference, which will present its major regional conference in February 2014 on the topic of “The Global Politics of Food and Water.”

Site of the May 4 symposium will be the First Congregational Church, located near the center of Camden at 59 Elm Street.  Registration forms are available at:  http://www.midcoastfriendsmeeting.org/peace-center/   The registration fee is $25 for the one-day program.

For additional information call Bruce Cole, First Congregational Church, at 691-4893.

Photo: Molly Anderson, Partridge Chair in Food and Sustainable Agriculture Systems, College of the Atlantic, to moderate Food and Climate Change Symposium

Credit: College of the Atlantic

POLAR BEAR DIP, 5K RACE TO HELP FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

POLAR BEAR DIP, 5K RACE TO HELP FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE, DECEMBER 31 IN PORTLAND
Looking for a feel good adrenaline rush? Be bold in the cold with a plunge into the Atlantic and/or winter jaunt around the East End to support the Natural Resources Council of Maine’s work to reduce climate change pollution. The bone-chilling fun 5K and dip will take place at Portland’s East End on Monday, December 31.

Pre-register online at: nrcm.kintera.org/dipdash. Registration opens at 10:00 a.m. Mon. Dec 31 at East End Beach. The 5k begins at 11:00 and the dip will be at noon – the “warmest” part of the day!
 
The registration fee is $30 and friends and family can pledge to help raise money and awareness about climate change and what NRCM is doing right here in Maine to curb it. Learn more and pledge online at: http://www.nrcm.org/dipdash.asp

The first 200 to sign-up for the Dip, the Dash, or both will receive a bpa-free water bottle. There are also fun prizes for top finishers, best costume, youngest and oldest participants, and top fundraisers, including Lamey Wellehan gift certificates, hand-made polar bear mugs and hats, books by Maine author/illustrator Jamie Hogan, and more.

And, it will be fun, with folks in polar bear costumes, hot drinks from Coffee by Design, and goodies too!

To participate in this certified sustainable event (by Athletes for a Fit Planet), Pre-register online at: nrcm.kintera.org/dipdash.

This year’s Dip & Dash is sponsored by: WCLZ, Clynk, ReVision Energy, Penobscot Home Performance, Jamie Hogan, Malley Weber, Coffee by Design, Lamey Wellehan, Back Country Excursions, and other local businesses.