Thursday, March 18, 2010

Climate change hitting upper New England

March has been warm up here, so far, melting down much of the snow pack. Some ground is being exposed, with old grass, dirt, and rock showing forth as the white recedes. Water is running everywhere, trickling under surviving snow and ice, thundering along within high rivers and creeks.

Is this unusual? A presentation on global warming last week argues that it is strange, and a warning of climate shifts under way.
spring is arriving earlier, snowpack is melting faster, and rivers are flowing at peak levels sooner than ecologists have seen before.The growing season for New England forests has been extended. Trees are now growing for 10 more days per year than foresters observed before 1970.
Check out this map of New Hampshire climate projected decades ahead. Vermont is comparable:



No comments: