Climate Network

Gulf of Maine Council Climate Network

The Climate Network brings together planners and scientists from around the Gulf of Maine to raise awareness about climate impacts and inspire effective action in local communities — where residents experience first-hand the effects of changing conditions.

Our approach is collaborative and regional, engaging participants across borders to address shared concerns—such as sea-level rise, extreme weather events and ocean acidification. The Network compiles regional climate data, training videos, and climate adaptation guidance to help community leaders find the resources they need. Periodic cross-border climate gatherings help identify shared needs and plan future projects.

The Climate Network offers a quarterly bulletin highlighting notable weather and climate impacts, along with related research and resources. Sign up to stay current on climate news in the region.

Early in 2014, the Climate Network completed a study on the status and needs of climate adaptation in municipalities bordering the Bay of Fundy. The Executive Summary and full report appear here.

For several years, the Climate Network coordinated a Gulf of Maine King Tides Initiative that works to raise regional awareness of sea-level rise impacts. Its first regional photo contest, held in October 2014, generated more than 150 submissions showing inundation of coastal areas on an extreme high tide.

Credit: Neil Pettigrew

• Precipitation from extreme events in the GOM region has increased 74 percent since 1958 (NOAA).
• Extreme weather already poses economic and ecological challenges, and these events are expected to grow more frequent in coming decades, with precipitation increasing 5-9 percent (IPCC 2013).

Credit: Sherry Godlewski

• By 2050, climate scientists project a more rapid increase of 2.5 to 3.5°C (4.5 to 6.3° F) in regional air temperature (IPCC 2013).
• Temperatures in the Gulf of Maine have risen much more in recent decades than many other coastal waters around the world, and a 2012 “heat wave” in sea surface temperatures had damaging economic impacts.

Projected Temperature Changes in the Gulf of Maine Region by the 2050s (°C.), reflecting the most recent IPCC models (Credit: Adam Fenech, UPEI Climate Lab)

What’s Climate Change and What’s Just the Weather?

This one-minute animation by Ole Christoffer Haga, produced by Teddy TV for the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, clearly and humorously illustrates the difference between long-term climate trends and variable weather patterns.