BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 14, 2024
A drought during the 2020 growing season, followed by unusually heavy rains in 2023. It’s a pattern brought on by a changing climate that is expected to occur with more frequency in Maine, challenging farmers’ ability to plan their crops and to sustain their business. “It is difficult to prepare for both of these at the same time,” Melissa Law, owner of Bumbleroot Organic Farm in Windham, said during the quarterly update meeting on Thursday of the Maine Climate Council. “A lot of farms and fisheries are just struggling to stay in business.” The council, which created the “Maine Won’t Wait” four-year climate plan for the state in 2020, met on a Zoom call with 160 attendees to hear updates from its scientific and technical subcommittee. Presentations by scientists revealed that many climate change effects, including four of Maine’s warmest years on record, are happening faster than expected since its 2020 report.