New Hampshire
Global climate change poses risks to human health and to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Important economic resources such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and water resources also may be affected. Warmer temperatures, more severe droughts and floods, and sea level rise could have a wide range of impacts. All these stresses can add to existing stresses on resources caused by other influences such as population growth, land-use changes, and pollution.
Climate Change in New Hampshire
Below are some of the potential impacts:
- By 2100 temperatures in New Hampshire could increase by about 4°F (with a range of 2-9°F) in spring, and by about 5°F (with a range of 2-10°F) in the other seasons. The frequency of extreme hot days in summer would increase because of the general warming trend.
- Sea Level rise threatens New Hampshire's 18 miles of seashore. The coastline includes stretches of rocky shore, sand dunes and beaches, productive estuaries, and dozens of islands. The Isles of Shoals and the New Hampshire coast are favorable areas for the American lobster. At Seavey Island/Portsmouth, sea level already is rising by 7 inches per century, and it is likely to rise another 18 inches by 2100. sea level rise update
- Warmer seas could contribute to the increased intensity, duration, and extent of harmful algal blooms. These blooms damage habitat and shellfish nurseries, can be toxic to humans, and can carry bacteria like those causing cholera. Brown algal tides and toxic algal blooms already are prevalent in the Atlantic. Warmer ocean waters could increase their occurrence and persistence.
- Incidents of Lyme disease, which is carried by ticks, have increased in the Northeast. If conditions become warmer and wetter, tick populations could increase in New Hampshire, thereby increasing the risk of transmission of this disease.
- In New Hampshire, agriculture is a $150 million annual industry, three-fifths of which comes from crops. Very little of the crop acreage is irrigated. The major crops in the state are silage and hay. Climate change could adversly affect croop yields and production very little or by as much as 39%, depending on the changes in temperature and precipitation. Increases in climate variability could make adaptation by farmers more difficult.
- Trees and forests are adapted to specific climate conditions, and as climate warms, forests will change. These changes could include changes in species, geographic range, and health and productivity. If conditions also become drier, the current range of forests could be reduced and replaced by grasslands and pasture. Even a warmer and wetter climate would lead to changes; trees that are better adapted to warmer conditions, such as oak, hickory, and pines, would prevail.
The above are based on from the Environmental Protection Agency's report on climate change, which uses data from the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001).
For more info on climate change impacts on New Hampshire in areas such as water resources, agriculture, forests and ecosystems, you can download pdf of full EPA Report.
CO2: How Does Your State Rank?
New Hampshire is the highest emitter of C02 of all 50 states and the most populous.
Maps
See CO2 output by sector, coastal population maps, and maps of regional initiatives.
Regional Initiatives
In the absence of federal action, many U.S. states are banding together to explore and employ greenhouse gas-reducing policies.
New Hampshire participates in the following:
Eastern Climate Registry (ECR)
New England Governors: Climate Change Action Plan (NEG-ECP)
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)
Learn about climate initiatives in all U.S. states and regions
Your Impact
Estimate your CO2 footprint by using a carbon calculator such as the one on the Inconvenient Truth web site.
How green is your energy? The EPA has a power profiler that can tell you.
