Lately we have discussed how Burlington has been one of the most northern cities that has warmed the most over the last few decades. Well, did you know that New York State is warming at a decent clip as well? The average temperature statewide has risen around two and a half degrees since 1970. Atmospheric scientists say that it is inevitable that more warming will occur, mostly in the northern parts of New York. Precipitation is of concern for the North Country, too. The average annual precipitation has increased since 1900 with New York receiving more and more rain and snow in the winter and less in the summer leading to prolonged times of dry weather which is not conducive to a healthy and thriving agricultural sector.

Lastly, our natural resources in the North Country are being transformed in negative ways by climate change. Spring now begins a week earlier than it did a few decades ago; the first leaf date is more than a week earlier and the first bloom date is more than 4 days earlier than in the 1950s. Winter snow cover is decreasing. Pollinating bees in the Northeast arrive 10 days earlier than they did in the 1880s because of varied season length and depleting natural resources. Even New York’s breeding bird and oceanic fish population ranges have shifted northward over the last several decades. 

It does not take much research to see that climate change is impacting everything, everybody, everywhere. Let’s start making changes that count and keep in mind a more sustainable future for us and all things living… and that’s your Two Degree Difference