Community Conversations June 14: Climate change

Tue, 06/13/2017 - 11:45am

The Lincoln County Democratic Committee will be hosting the third meeting in a series called Community Conversations at Mobius, Inc., 319 Main Street, Damariscotta on June 14, 6:30 to 8 p.m. The discussions are open to all people interested in issues that affect area residents. The first meeting was on family health (entitled: Is Your Local Family Health Care at Risk?). The last meeting was Fake News: Where Do You Find the Truth? On Wednesday (June 14) the subject will be Climate: What Changes Are On Maine’s Horizon?

We'll talk with a panel of involved Mainers about some of the changes that are already taking place in such areas as temperatures, rainfall, and growing seasons, and the impacts climate changes are having on plant and animal life, both terrestrial and in Maine’s precious Gulf. The panel is composed of the following:

• Ivan Fernandez, Distinguished Maine Professor at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute and School of Forest Resources, lead author of the University’s 2015 Update to the Maine’s Climate Future Report

• Bill Mook, principal with Mook Sea Farm Oysters in Walpole. Concerned about how climate change was affecting hatchery seed production, Bill served on Maine's Ocean Acidification Commission which issued a report that summarized the state of ocean and coastal acidification science.

• Si Balch, leader of the Downeast chapter of Maine Woodland Owners (formerly SWOM), is actively working with the forest products industry to help large and small forest landowners adapt to climate change.

• Carl Wilson, currently director of Maine's Bureau of Marine Science, was the Maine Department of Marine Resources chief lobster biologist for 15 years.