
Western Mountains: Traditional maple sugar houses have seen sap runs decrease and go off-schedule. The geographic range of sugar maples and other tree species will keep moving north as the average temperature continues to climb.

Lincoln: Members of the Lincoln Snowhounds who organize the Snocross snowmobile race have had to truck in snow for the past three winters, but in 2006 they had to postpone the event because even those outside sources were short on snow. More rainy winters could doom the event in the future.

Southern Maine:
The warmer winters allow transmittable diseases such as Lyme, West Nile and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (“triple e”) to become more common in the southern part of the state as the vectors survive the winter. Local public health officials are worried—last spring, high school athletic events in York County were curtailed when “triple e” killed two horses in that county.

Southern Coast: Lobster catches have been relatively strong over the past few years in Maine, but to the south in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, ocean temperatures have increased enough to make lobsters more susceptible to disease, and as a result, populations have plummeted.

Acadia National Park: Increased temperatures in the summer on top of Cadillac Mountain will exacerbate already bad air as smog and haze cut breathing—and views—short.

Southern Mid-Coast: As sea levels continue to rise, Kennebunk, Ferry, Crescent, Popham and other popular beaches will be threatened or submerged by storm flooding, forcing tourists and locals to find other places to cool off in the hotter summers to come.

Moosehead Lake: The ice on Maine’s largest lake is melting eight days earlier, on average, compared to 150 years ago. Other lakes are in a similar predicament, threatening ice fishing—the 2006 ice fishing derby on Sebago Lake had to relocate due to lack of ice.

Downeast Maine: Mainers in rural communities around the state get their drinking water from wells and in 2001 through 2002, at least 17,000 wells ran dry following the worst drought in 50-100 years. Tens of thousands residents and even town and city water suppliers had to look elsewhere for drinking water during this drought, which could be repeated more frequently or severely because of global warming.

Support and explore your downtown. See if your town or city is a
Main Street Maine community, and see about getting your town involved if it’s not. Support downtown redevelopment and funding the Main Street Maine program. Curbing sprawl reduces energy consumption, eliminating global warming pollution.
Write a letter to your state repre- sentative. Let him or her know that you want action on cutting pollution from power plants, deeper investment in energy efficiency and expanded transportation choices.
Sustain the media attention on global warming. Call on our leaders to take action now on policies to curb global warming.
Send a letter to your local paper.Responding to global warming coverage is a great way to insure it’ll continue to be printed.
Propel yourself. Bike or walk to work, the post office, your kids’ sport game, the movies, a local restaurant or just for fun.
Ask your Congressman to co-sponsor a bill to require reductions in global warming pollution across the country, similar to the law in Maine.
Make your home or building more efficient. Installing compact fluorescent bulbs, improving insulation and drafty windows, and purchasing energy efficient products can cut your electric bills and pollution. Visit Efficiency Maine for coupons, assistance and ideas.
Green your power. You can purchase clean renewable energy and biofuels for your home or business to reduce fossil fuel use and your carbon footprint.
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