1. CHANGING CLIMATE CONDITIONS IN MAINE
Maine Municipal Association Conference
October 7, 2015

2. WHAT DO WE KNOW ?

3. MAINE’S CLIMATE IS WARMING

4. INCREASE IN HIGH HEAT DAYS
MAINE’S AGING HOUSING STOCK AND POPULATION

5. MAINE IS GETTING WETTER

6. CHANGING PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS AND TIMING

7. MAINE HAS MORE EXTREME EVENTS

8. SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE IS RISING

9. SEA LEVELS ARE RISING

10. 3.2 ±0.4 mm/yr
(12.6” per century)
Data through November 2014

11. Opportunities and Challenges
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Opportunities and Challenges

12. MAINE SEASONS ARE CHANGING
Growing season has increased 2 weeks
Plant hardiness zones shift northwards
New agricultural opportunities
New agricultural stressors

13. INCREASED FREQUENCY AND TYPES OF VECTOR BORNE DISEASES

14. INCIDENCE OF LYME DISEASE IN MAINE
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15. INCIDENCE OF LYME DISEASE IN MAINE BY AGE CLASS
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16. INCREASED HEAT STRESS INCREASED DEMAND ON GRID FOR AIR CONDITIONING
AGING HOUSING STOCK AND POPULATION: NEED FOR COOLING CENTERS
STRESSOR FOR AGRICULTURE
STRESSOR FOR BUILDING MATERIALS
MAINE’S AGING HOUSING STOCK AND POPULATION

17. WATER CARRYING INFRASTRUCTURE
BUILT USING STANDARDS BASED ON HISTORIC CONDITIONS
MORE RAIN ON FROZEN GROUND

18. WATER QUALITY PEAK FLOWS CHANGING INCREASED RUN-OFF
WARMING TEMPERATURES

19. OCEAN ACIDIFICATION ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS:
GLOBAL OCEANS ARE 30% MORE ACIDIC
LOCAL EFFECTS FROM LAND-BASED CAUSES:
FRESH WATER IS MORE ACIDIC THAN SEA WATER
ORGANIC MATTER CAN ALSO INCREASE ACIDITY. LARGE PHYTOPLANKTON BLOOMS RESULTING FROM EXCESS NUTRIENTS DECOMPOSE AND RELEASE CO2

20. INCREASED COASTAL EROSION

21. LARGER AREAS FLOOD

22. INCREASED NUISANCE FLOODING

23. Brunswick culverts blown out in storm replaced, road to reopen

24. Officials had closed a section of the road after a
stream became too powerful for a culvert. Rain overwhelmed the pipe under the road, flooding the stream below with nearly six feet of water.
A temporary culvert had been installed last year. It was replaced by two culverts Thursday, and the town will eventually put in a permanent fix.

25. Municipal News Today
This culvert which is a 60 inch culvert would normally take that type of flow over a longer period, but in that short of period that carried down so much debris from the south to this end," said Gray.

26. Maine road crews work to repair damage from storm BDN 10/5/2015
“The thing was, it was in such a short period of time we got that much water,” Dale Rowley, Waldo County Emergency Management Agency director, said Friday. “The stormwater management systems couldn’t handle that much flow in that little time.”
Waldo County already had exceeded the $180,000 needed for a Maine county to declare a state of emergency
schools were closed Thursday because buses couldn’t get through water-damaged roads.

27. WHAT’S BEING DONE AT THE MUNICIPAL LEVEL?

28. MANY DIFFERENT APPROACHES
Education and Outreach
Comprehensive Planning
Vulnerability Assessments
Adaptation Planning
Ordinance Language