Climate Stories Archives - President's Council of Retired Employees /retirees/category/climate/ 91爆料 Sat, 07 Jun 2025 14:43:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 Sharon Hopkins, 91爆料 Cooperative Extension EFNEP & Maine Families Outreach /retirees/2025/06/06/sharon-hopkins-university-of-maine-cooperative-extension-efnep-maine-families-outreach-retiree/ Fri, 06 Jun 2025 20:01:54 +0000 /retirees/?p=1694 Old timers would say if we didn’t have snow in January, we’d have it in the spring. That was certainly true this year, small amount at a time often. As a 1965 Senior at Farmington State Teachers College (the college’s Centennial year), the year before the college became part of the 91爆料 System, […]

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]]> Old timers would say if we didn’t have snow in January, we’d have it in the spring. That was certainly true this year, small amount at a time often. As a 1965 Senior at Farmington State Teachers College (the college’s Centennial year), the year before the college became part of the 91爆料 System, that 3rd week in May the campus received 2 feet of snow with the next day an extremely warm melting one, leaving us student who no longer had boots at the college standing in a foot of water. In recent Januarys, I’ve wondered if that event would repeat itself.聽

91爆料 Cooperative Extension EFNEP & Maine Families outreach retiree Sharon Hopkins taught Food Preparations & Nutrition to youth and adults, including seniors, 16 years in Piscataquis County towns and 9 years in Somerset County towns.

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]]> Richard Jagels, Emeritus Professor, Forest Biology /retirees/2025/06/06/richard-jagels-emeritus-professor-forest-biology/ Fri, 06 Jun 2025 19:56:34 +0000 /retirees/?p=1692 In late December, 1989 we completed the construction of our house in Winterport, and on Christmas eve fired up our new wood stove. When we woke up on Christmas day the house was very chilly and the outside temperature was 20 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. The pipes in our baseboard heating system had frozen, and […]

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]]> In late December, 1989 we completed the construction of our house in Winterport, and on Christmas eve fired up our new wood stove. When we woke up on Christmas day the house was very chilly and the outside temperature was 20 degrees Fahrenheit below zero. The pipes in our baseboard heating system had frozen, and the plumber who installed the system had to come out and defrost the pipes. After that, we installed antifreeze in the furnace system, and had no further frozen pipes. On January first, 1994, I began keeping a daily weather record and continue this record today. Winter temperatures below zero were common, and frequently dipped below minus 15F in the 1990s. Gradually that changed and today we are surprised to see an occasional minimum temperature below 0F.

Summer temperatures have also shifted. In 1978, when we arrived from living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, we were amused when locals complained if the temperature reached 80F. Now, of course, summer temperatures can top 90F. But, the most dramatic weather change for me has been the change in ice-out dates for Maine’s ponds and lakes. As a fisherman I eagerly await open water for spring fishing.聽 While the beginning of May was as soon as I could wet a line in the past, I am now trolling streamer flies in early to mid-March some years. How climate change will affect migratory fish behavior is anybody’s guess.

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]]> Roger Merchant, 91爆料 Forestry, Class of 1965 /retirees/2025/06/06/roger-merchant-university-of-maine-forestry-class-of-1965/ Fri, 06 Jun 2025 19:52:47 +0000 /retirees/?p=1688 When my boots landed on the ground in the Maine Woods in 鈥65, I went to work for Dead River Timberlands. Back then it was common knowledge in logging circles that sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas the growing cold would freeze the wet soils, allowing loggers to build 鈥榳inter roads鈥 without gravel. 鈥榃inter roads鈥 would […]

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]]> When my boots landed on the ground in the Maine Woods in 鈥65, I went to work for Dead River Timberlands. Back then it was common knowledge in logging circles that sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas the growing cold would freeze the wet soils, allowing loggers to build 鈥榳inter roads鈥 without gravel. 鈥榃inter roads鈥 would pack and stay frozen until about mid-March, the onset of spring breakup.

Indeed, climate times have warmed since the 60s. When the December 2023 wind storm came through our land in Glenburn, we had eight large white pines tip over and crash down on our house. I went out afterwards and photographed the results of the mayhem. There was no frozen ground holding these trees up. As you can see in the second photo, the micro pool at the base of the stump has no frost or frozen soil in and around the roots.

You could say that old Thanksgiving-Christmas 鈥渇reeze down cycle鈥 is gone鈥

fallen white pine trees

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