Dear Editor:

Answering the letter “Record High Temperatures” posted 12/12/24:

The letter stated that Maine can’t afford expensive environmental projects, because climate scientists don’t have the facts. So, I followed the sources cited but came to a different conclusion - scientists have lots of facts. The WMO, World Meteorological Organization, https:wmo.int/topics/climatechange, states, “according to IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, human activities, principally through emissions of greenhouse gases, have unequivocally caused global warming.” Further, the website says, “2023/2024 was the warmest year on record.”

Looking at data from NOAA, www.climate.gov/climatedashboard, it says, “Earth’s temperature has risen 0.14 degrees F per decade since 1880. The rate of warming has more than doubled since 1981.” The article quotes Maine’s temperature in 1911 as 105F. Have we forgotten that the temperature in Lytton, Canada, reached 121 F in June 2021?

A harbinger of things to come. It’s past the time to work together to mitigate the effects of global warming “in the pipeline,” as Dr. James Hansen, former Director, NASA, GISS, has written.

Last winter, Boothbay Harbor was inundated by our rising ocean, due to the melting of the poles. If you don’t believe that the poles are melting and if you don’t believe that the Gulf of Maine is warming, then let people who trust science determine the policies that will save our harbors.

Marcia Annenberg

Boothbay Harbor