About This Paper

This paper examines the potential impacts of climate change on the northeastern US. It is intended as a resource for the formal and informal education communities. The paper's content is based on the results from: two workshops (New England Region and Mid-Atlantic Region) attended by representatives from government, industry, academic and non-governmental organizations; Assessment research carried out by both regions; the reports of the National Assessment Synthesis team (Overview and Foundation reports); and other research reports. Workshop participants identified many potential environmental, social, and economic impacts of climate change that were of concern to them. Six of these are discussed: agriculture, forests, tourism and outdoor recreation, sea-level rise, fishing, and human health. Each of these topics is accompanied by initial suggestions about how the region may be able to cope with or ameliorate the potential impacts.

Several of the identified topics are currently issues of concern to society for reasons other than climate changes. For example, climate change is very likely to increase the rate at which sea level is rising. This is a potential problem because many coastal communities and infrastructure are built in vulnerable locations or according to building codes that are not likely to be stringent enough to protect them. Potential climate impacts give an additional reason for considering actions. It is important to realize that some of the projected climate changes and their impacts will be gradual and slow to develop while others will be nearer term and more noticeable. Also, because we are talking about changes and impacts extending over as much as the next 100 years, we may well have time to take actions that could make it easier to moderate potential negative consequences.

The focus of this paper is less on the potential positive consequences because government responsibilities are typically to ameliorate adverse consequences, and because the projected negative impacts tend to be similar to past experience. Positive outcomes typically arise as people identify the opportunities changes present and create new (and less foreseeable) activities. Therefore, caution should be taken in drawing conclusions about potential net consequences - while change will occur, how society responds will be a key determinant for many types of consequences.

For additional information on this region, please see:

• the New England Regional Workshop and Assessment reports and website
• the Mid-Atlantic Regional Workshop and Assessment documents and website.
• the National Assessment Synthesis Team's reports.

This paper was developed by Dr. Lynne M. Carter.  Thanks to Dr. Barry Rock of the New England Regional Assessment (NERA) and to Dr. Ann Fisher of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Assessment (MARA) for their contributions to and reviews of the information contained in this paper.