Concerns Grow Over Sugar Maples in Midst of Global Warming

Some see the magnificent Sugar Maple as New England's version of the canary in the mineshaft of global warming.

A growing number of scientists, lay people, and those who's vocations and avocations regularly bring them into contact with Sugar Maples are expressing alarm over the potential economic and environmental impact of a changing climate on the species and the New England region.

"At first blush," says Wayne King, an environmental consultant and owner of Moosewood Communications, " few people have an appreciation for how broadly the Sugar Maple is linked to the New England economy and the New England psyche. But if you stop and think about it for just a moment, you will see why it is so. The Sugar Maple is deeply ingrained in us, from the stunning colors of autumn to the warmth of a woodstove and the sweet euphoria of real maple syrup on warm pancakes."

"What creates concern among those of us who understand the nexus of cultural, scientific and economic factors associated with sugar maples," King continues, " is that the species seems to be particularly sensitive to climate changes. "

An exquisitely sensitive tree, the sugar maple has a wide variety of residents, ecologists and scientists worried about how it will fare if Northeast temperatures rise as projected during the next century of climate change.


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In New England, Concern Grows for Sugar Maple by Ketzel Levine

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