Report: Quintessential N.E. at risk

[YankeyMCC]

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Imagine Vermont without maple syrup, Maine with fewer lobsters, and New Hampshire without the brilliant red foliage that enlivens fall mornings. Unthinkable?
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A new study by some of the region's top climate scientists projects that many of the things that define New England -- from knee-high snow drifts to lobster rolls -- could disappear if global warming continues at its current pace.

"The character of this region is at stake," said Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Cambridge-based environmental group that produced the report in collaboration with dozens of climate specialists, other scientists, and economists. "The emissions choices that we make today will lead to starkly different futures in our lifetime and certainly the lifetime of our children."
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Cod, the fish that jump - started the region's economy, could vanish from the waters around Georges Bank, the study found. Stressed-out cows could produce up to 12 percent less milk in the summer. And the number of snow-cover days could decrease by more than half across New England by 2100, forcing many ski resorts to close.
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In Boston, more frequent heat waves and a fourfold increase in days with poor air quality could endanger the elderly and children. Floods that now occur on average once every 100 years could happen every other year by mid century, topping the Charles River Dam and inundating Faneuil Hall, the Back Bay, and parts of Cambridge.
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The report paints a grim picture for New England's farms and fisheries. Annual droughts could plague historically water-rich Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Cranberries would no longer grow in Southeastern Massachusetts under the high emissions scenario, and apple farmers could be forced to abandon popular varieties like McIntosh and Granny Smiths. Under either scenario, the waters south of Cape Cod would become inhospitable to lobsters, and crustaceans in Maine would grow more susceptible to disease.
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http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/12/report_quintessential_ne_at_risk/

Photo gallery: http://www.boston.com/news/weather/gallery/071107_climate_change/