WMTW quotes Birkel, Mallory in report on Maine’s climate future
WMTW (Channel 8 in Portland) quoted Sean Birkel, Maine’s state climatologist and a research assistant professor at the University of Maine, and Ellen Mallory, an associate professor with the Cooperative Extension and the School of Food and Agriculture at UMaine, in a report on Maine’s climate future. The average temperature in Maine has risen by two degrees over the last 100 years, according to the report. What this means for the state is more variation and more extremes in weather caused by the changing climate. “So, it’s really a mixed bag,” said Birkel, who uses data to map out gradual changes in climate over time. He predicts the state will experience more extreme rainfall events and rising low temperatures. Adapting to these changes is important for Maine’s farmers. “We can look at how those crops might be vulnerable to different changes, higher temps, changes in rainfall patterns. Changes that we are expecting to see,” said Mallory.