{"id":6859,"date":"2015-04-07T13:29:42","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T17:29:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/?p=6859"},"modified":"2017-02-07T14:56:59","modified_gmt":"2017-02-07T19:56:59","slug":"mitchell-center-director-david-hart-joins-u-s-senator-angus-king-for-conversation-on-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/2015\/04\/07\/mitchell-center-director-david-hart-joins-u-s-senator-angus-king-for-conversation-on-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitchell Center Director David Hart Joins U.S. Senator Angus King for Conversation on Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Angus<\/a>David Hart<\/a>, Director of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, joined U.S. Senator Angus King<\/a>, fishermen, community leaders, and stewards of the environment for a conversation on climate change and its effects on Maine\u2019s winters.<\/p>\n

The forum, held at Naples Town Hall across from Long Lake, was organized to discuss the impact of global warming on ice fishing and other traditional wintertime activities. During his talk, Hart presented data showing that ice-out dates -\u2013 the dates at which lakes are free of ice\u2013 are occurring several-to-many weeks earlier than in the 1800s. In Sebago Lake, the average ice-out date is about one month earlier than in the early 1800s. These and other changes pose a threat to recreational activities and livelihoods that depend upon traditional winter weather.<\/p>\n

The event was sponsored by Environment Maine<\/a>, Loon Echo Land Trust, Lakes Environmental Association, the Sebago Lake Anglers Association, Maine Lakes Society, Maine Rivers, and Trout Unlimited.<\/p>\n

Hart, who is also a professor in 91¸£Àû\u2019s Department of Biology and Ecology and lead author of the Freshwater Ecosystems section of the Maine\u2019s Climate Future report, said that scientists want to share their knowledge with the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cScientists shouldn\u2019t be telling people how to think about climate change, but we do feel a responsibility to explain what we know: Climate change is already happening in Maine, as indicated by earlier ice-out dates, increasing air temperatures and rising sea levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hart also showed results of a Mitchell Center-supported survey led by Caroline Noblet, Assistant Professor in the School of Economics, and colleagues. Of the 192 Mainers polled in the survey, nearly 70 percent said they believe they have a responsibility to help solve environmental problems. Said Hart: \u201cThis underscores the fact that Mainers believe in the importance of environmental stewardship.\u201d<\/p>\n

King, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Senate Climate Action Task Force, said it is time to stop debating the reality of climate change. Rather, he emphasized the importance of working together to confront climate change and take concrete steps toward reducing its impact in the future.<\/p>\n

“I cannot figure out how this became a partisan issue,\u201d King said. \u201cWe don’t debate in Washington that light goes 186,000 miles a second. You know, there’s not a Republican or Democratic position on the boiling temperature of water. This is science,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom lobstermen in the Gulf of Maine to fishermen here at Sebago Lake, people throughout Maine recognize that climate change is real and that it\u2019s taking a serious toll on our environment and on industries critical to our economy\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Environment Maine\u2019s director Taryn Hallweaver : \u201cWe all want to pass on a Maine to future generations that is just as special as the one we know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speakers at the forum also included David Miller, President of the Sebago Lakes Chapter of Trout Unlimited and Connie Cross, a community leader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

David Hart, Director of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, joined U.S. Senator Angus King, fishermen, community leaders, and stewards of the environment for a conversation on climate change and its effects on Maine\u2019s winters. The forum, held at Naples Town Hall across from Long Lake, was organized to discuss the impact […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":957,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":0},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":3,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"mitchellcenter","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/author\/mitchellcenter\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":3,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":613,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":3,"category_count":613,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/957"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6859"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11631,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6859\/revisions\/11631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}