Adapting to Change:
Maine Sagadahoc Region Climate Change

Workshop draws over 60!

Citizens from throughout the greater Sagadahoc region braved a gray, rainy day on May 17 to join Manomet and a panel of experts for our climate change workshop. Manomet President John Hagan kicked off the agenda with Maine Wildlife Biologist Steve Walker and The Nature Conservancy’s Josh Royte reminding us about what makes the region truly unique – ecologically, geographically, and socio-economically. The Sagadahoc region still has a relatively undeveloped landscape that supports agriculture, forestry, a productive coast, and small towns. Maine’s State Climatologist George Jacobson, PhD., summed up 60,000 years of climate history - surprisingly quickly! - with graphs tracking human population, industrial development, and the precipitous upward arc of carbon emissions, already well beyond levels ever experienced according to the paleo pollen record. Predicted climate shifts are dismaying, with Maine expected to have the climate of today’s North Carolina by 2100, and human population going from today’s 7 to 10 billion. Jacobson did give the group some cause for optimism, noting, “If we do the best we can, on the scale we have to work with here, we have a chance to achieve sustainability and have an influence regionally and nationally.”

Maine State geologist Peter Slovinsky presented his work on sea level rise and impacts to the Maine coast. With sea level rise estimated at between 1 and 2 meters by 2100, Bowdoin College students Maryellen Hearn and Krista Bahm detailed the significant effects of coastal inundation on the towns of Brunswick and Harpswell, shwoing up to ½ the total parcels of Harpswell affected by sea level rise, most of the piers in both towns, and up to a 50% loss of tidal marsh acreage. Finally, Ryan Wingard, P.E., of engineering firm Wright-Pierce, walked the group through the expected upland impacts of greatly increased precipitation on infrastructure, ranging from overwhelmed road culverts to flooded sewage treatment plants.

Altogether a substantial and sobering body of information, but our participants seemed energized by the opportunity to learn about and prioritize areas to address in the face of climate change. Over lunch, in 6 small working groups, participants honed in on future development, increased precipitation, and sea level rise as their priority areas for adaptation planning, with one group also noting that likely future water scarcity outside of Maine should make water policy a priority as well.

The group left us with one burning question: what next? Manoment will complete an adaptation plan for the region, soliciting additional input, review, and comment in a survey and another public forum over the next 12 months. However, implementation of the adaptation plan will depend upon local and regional efforts, leaving whether we “do the best we can” in the Sagadahoc as yet an unanswered question.

Documents cited by our speakers, or related to climate change in Maine:
Sagadahoc Region Rural Resources Inventory (click here)
Maquoit and Middle Bays – Focus areas (click here)
Kennebec Estuary – Focus area (click here)

Maine’s Climate Future (click here)

Assorted sites with a focus on precipitation and climate:
www.precip.net
http://www.northeastclimateimpacts.org/
http://efc.muskie.usm.maine.edu/
http://www.nacwa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=939&catid=8&Itemid=7

Additional information about climate change and vulnerability:

Manomet publication: Climate change and Biodiversity in Maine: A climate change exposure summary  (click here)

Draft Sagadahoc Region Breakout Group Summary from November Climate Change Adaptation conference in Freeport, ME (draft)

A Summary of Themes from the November Climate Change Adaptation conference in Freeport, ME (click here)

Maine’s State Climate Change Adaptation Plan: People and Nature Adapting to a Changing Climate: Charting Maine's Course (click here)

For more information contact: Jackie Sartoris, email or 207-721-9040 ext. 7