Baldacci asks for UM report on climate

Gov. John Baldacci has asked University of Maine researchers for a report examining the impact climate change could have on the state and identifying tools that scientists will need to monitor changes.

The report, which is due to the governor by next November, will be aimed at helping inform future policy decisions in the state. Researchers at UMaine’s Climate Change Institute will lead the study, although experts from throughout the university likely will contribute.

“As the state works to address climate change, it’s critical that we have the best information available to guide our decision making,” Baldacci said in a statement. “The University of Maine has one of the premier climate change research programs in the country. We need to utilize that specialized resource as we work to answer the challenges of global warming.”

The governor has asked the research team to identify potential climate scenarios for Maine and their probabilities for the remainder of the century. The researchers also will identify specific challenges and potential solutions as well as local opportunities that could arise from climate change.

UMaine professors Ivan Fernandez and George Jacobson wrote in the project description that people could expect a very different climate during the 21st century.

“Decision making by government agencies, business leaders, research managers and private citizens will necessarily be influenced by that reality,” they wrote. “We should not be dealing with climate change as an isolated issue while everything else remains business as usual.”

Scientists are predicting that average temperatures could rise 3 to 7 degrees over the next century, according to reports issued this year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Those temperature increases could be even more drastic, however, unless humankind finds a way to greatly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, scientists warn.

Under such a scenario, Maine could expect to lose some of its coastline to rising seas and could experience dramatic changes in the state’s forests and wildlife populations. Snowfall likely would decrease also, but farmers could reap benefits from a warmer climate and longer growing season.

Baldacci also has asked the researchers to identify future monitoring, research and assessment needs and come up with a framework so that science can inform policy matters.

UMaine’s Climate Change Institute, based in Orono, is a multidisciplinary program that involves researchers in such fields as biology, marine and earth sciences, anthropology and computer science. Participating scholars and students conduct research both locally and globally, including in Antarctica.

The assessment study grew out of conversations Baldacci had with the institute’s director, Paul Mayewski, and other institute researchers.

“They are already doing the research, so what he is really asking is for it to be put together in a form that would be usable for public policy purposes,” said Baldacci spokesman David Farmer.