NH Business: Climate change in the Granite State - WMUR Manchester

NH Business: Climate change in the Granite State

NH Business: Climate change in the Granite State

Fred Kocher sits down with Mary Stampone, NH State Climatologist, to discuss climate change in the Granite State

Updated: 8:17 AM EDT Sep 3, 2023

BUSINESS. I’M FRED KOCHER. GIVEN THE HOT WEATHER AND FLOODS DOMINATING PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES THIS SUMMER, INCLUDING SOME IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND VERMONT, I REVISITED A 2021 NEW HAMPSHIRE CLIMATE ASSESSMENT REPORT FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, FUNDED BY THE NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES. AND IT SAYS NEW HAMPSHIRE’S CLIMATE IS GETTING WARMER AND WETTER. AND THERE ARE MAJOR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE STATE. HERE ARE SOME TAKEAWAYS FROM THE NEW HAMPSHIRE CLIMATE REPORT ANNUAL TEMPERATURE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE WILL CONTINUE TO RISE, INCLUDING WINTER’S PRECIPITATION IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. WILL INCREASE, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO AVOID DROUGHTS. LARGE WILDFIRES ARE EXPECTED TO IMPACT NEW HAMPSHIRE’S AIR QUALITY. AND ALL OF THIS HAS IMPLICATIONS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, OUR ELECTRIC GRID, BUILDINGS, HEALTH AND THE ECOLOGY OF THE STATE. HERE’S A QUOTE FROM MY GUEST WHO COAUTHORED THE REPORT. HUMAN INDUCED CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOT A FUTURE PROBLEM. IT’S ALREADY HAPPENING. SO WITH ME, TOO, IS THE COAUTHOR AUTHOR OF THAT REPORT, MARY STAMPONE, WHO IS AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, WHERE SHE TEACHES COURSES ON ENVIRONMENTAL, GEOGRAPHY AND COURSES ON WEATHER, CLIMATE AND NATURAL HAZARDS, HAS A PHD IN CLIMATE THAT MADE ME FEEL GOOD AND IS ALSO THE NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE CLIMATOLOGIST. SO WELCOME, MARY. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. UM, WE’RE ABOUT TO SHOW SOME OF THE GRAPHICS FROM THAT REPORT. BUT BEFORE WE DO, UM, WHY IS NEW HAMPSHIRE WARMER AND WETTER? AND I THINK I KNOW THE ANSWER. IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH GAS EMISSION. AMES. YES. SO GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS LIONS, WHEN THEY’RE ENTERED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE, THEY RETAIN HEAT. SO THEY KEEP EARTH WARMER THAN IT WOULD BE WITHOUT THEM. BUT WHEN WE PUT TOO MUCH INTO THE ATMOSPHERE THAT HEAT IS USED TO INCREASE GLOBAL TEMPERATURES AS WELL AS KIND OF SPEED UP THE WATER CYCLE, RESULTING IN BIGGER RAINFALL AS WELL AS BIGGER DROUGHTS. YEAH. LET’S GO TO THE FIRST GRAPH. THERE’S SOME GRAPHICS HERE FROM THIS REPORT FROM 2021, BUT THEY’RE STILL RELEVANT TODAY. AND HERE’S ONE, MARY IS A GRAPH FROM THE REPORT THAT SHOWS THE NUMBER OF DAYS PER YEAR ABOVE 90°F IN DURHAM FROM 1980 TO 2021, BUT WITH TWO LINES, NOT ONE. WOULD YOU EXPLAIN THAT? ALL RIGHT. SO THE BLACK LINES REPRESENT THE OBSERVATIONS SO WE CAN SEE THERE’S ALREADY BEEN AN INCREASE. AND THEN THE TWO LINES SHOW THE AVERAGE FOR THE MODEL PROJECTIONS INTO THE FUTURE. AND THE BLUE LINE REPRESENTS THE NUMBER OF DAYS ABOVE 90°F AT DURHAM FOR LOWER EMISSIONS. SO ASSUMING WE REGULATE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND THE RED LINE ASSUMES THAT WE DON’T, SO WE CALL THAT THE BUSINESS AS USUAL. WE KEEP ON EMITTING GREENHOUSE GASES. NOW LET’S GO TO THE NEXT GRAPH, THE HISTORICAL AND FUTURE COOLING AND HEATING DAYS FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE. THIS GRAPHIC INDICATES THAT BETWEEN 1971 AND 2020, THE ENERGY TO COOL OURSELVES IN NEW HAMPSHIRE IS GOING UP AND THE ENERGY TO HEAT OUR CELLS IS GOING DOWN. YES. SO AS OUR ATMOSPHERE WARMS DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS, WE CAN EXPECT TO SEE MORE EXTREME HEAT. SO WARMER TEMPERATURES OVERALL AS WELL AS EXTREMES AND AND WITH THAT WILL INCREASE THE NEED FOR ENERGY TO COOL INDOOR SPACES. WE’RE LOOKING AT BY THE MID-CENTURY, IF WE DON’T CURB GREENHOUSE GASES OVER A DOUBLING OF THE NUMBER OF DAYS ABOVE 90 OR THE NEED FOR HEATING AND COOLING, WHICH WITH A MUCH LOWER INCREASE, IF WE DO REDUCE GASES. NOW, THIS NEXT GRAPH HAS PRECIPITATION, WHICH WE’VE SEEN IN JULY IN THIS STATE AVERAGE NUMBER OF PRECIPITATION EVENTS PER YEAR IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. MARY, THIS GRAPHIC SHOWS PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS OF ONE, TWO AND FOUR INCHES. ALL UP BETWEEN 1900 AND 2020. AND OF COURSE, WE’VE HAD FLOODS IN THE STATE THIS YEAR. SO YEAH, SO WE EXPECT TO SEE CONTINUED INCREASE IN PRECIPITATION LARGELY DRIVEN BY BIGGER EVENTS. SO MORE RAINFALL, MORE SNOWFALL BEING PRODUCED IN SINGLE EVENTS. AND THAT’S WHAT’S DRIVING A LOT OF THESE EXTREMES. AND EACH ONE OF THOSE BARS SHOWS THE INCREASE IN PRECIPITATION AND THEY’RE ALL UP. YES, THE LAST GRAPH IS LAKES REGION SNOWPACK DEPTH BETWEEN 1971 AND 2020, DOWN 50%. WOW. THIS IS ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS FOR TOURISM IN THE WINTER. CERTAINLY IN THE LAKES REGION. BUT ASSUME UP IN THE SKI AREA AS WELL. YES, WE CAN EXPECT A CONTINUED DECREASE IN THE AMOUNT OF SNOW IN RESPONSE TO A WARMING WINTERS, WHICH ARE WINTERS ARE ACTUALLY WARMING AT THREE TIMES FASTER THAN THE SUMMER MONTHS. SO A LOT OF THE WARMING IS IN THAT COLD SEASON. IT’S GOING TO HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR EXTREME COLD TEMPERATURES AS WELL AS SNOWFALL. RIGHT. SO REAL QUICKLY, THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE THAT WILL WATCH THIS AND SAY THIS IS CYCLICAL. IS IT OR NOT? NO, IT’S NOT. AND I THINK YOU CAN EVEN SEE THAT CLEARLY IN THE OBSERVATIONS WHERE WE DO HAVE THE INTERANNUAL VARIABILITY, WHICH IS NATURAL PART OF OUR CLIMATE. BUT EVERYTHING IS GETTING WARMER, GETTING WARMER. WELL, I WANT TO THANK YOU, MARY STAMPONE, WHO IS THE NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE CLIMATOLOGIST AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, WHICH INCLUDES ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY, WHICH IS INTERESTING, AND CLIMATE. SO IF YOU MISSED PART OF THIS BRIEFING, YOU CAN GO TO WMUR.COM. LET ME SAY IT

NH Business: Climate change in the Granite State

Fred Kocher sits down with Mary Stampone, NH State Climatologist, to discuss climate change in the Granite State

Updated: 8:17 AM EDT Sep 3, 2023

Given the hot weather and floods in most parts of the United States this summer, a recent climate report from the University of New Hampshire says the Graite State continues to get warmer and wetter, causing many implications for the state.From the report, it says annual temperatures will continue to rise, including winters and precipitation will increase but not by enough to avoid droughts. Wildfires are expected to impact the air quality, and all of this will impact health and ecology overall. On this segment of New Hampshire's business, Fred Kocher sits down with Climatologist, Mary Stampone, to discuss the drastic climate change in New Hampshire.

MANCHESTER, N.H. —

Given the hot weather and floods in most parts of the United States this summer, a recent climate report from the University of New Hampshire says the Graite State continues to get warmer and wetter, causing many implications for the state.

From the report, it says annual temperatures will continue to rise, including winters and precipitation will increase but not by enough to avoid droughts.

Wildfires are expected to impact the air quality, and all of this will impact health and ecology overall.

On this segment of New Hampshire's business, Fred Kocher sits down with Climatologist, Mary Stampone, to discuss the drastic climate change in New Hampshire.