Activists learn about climate change in Metrowest
By Angela Greiner Contributing Writer

PHOTO/ANGELA GREINER Erika Siegfried from the Union of Concerned Scientist gives a power point presentation about the future of climate in the Northeast.

Region - A specialist from the Union of Concerned Scientist

UCS) predicted severe repercussions from global warming at the Organization for the Assabet River's (OAR) annual meeting Oct. 25 at the Portuguese Club in Hudson.

OAR is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the 177-square mile watershed of the Assabet River.

Erika Siegfried, the North East Climate project manager for UCS, joined residents of Westborough, Northborough, Hudson and Marlborough to discuss the impact climate change will have on the northeast and, specifically, Massachusetts.

Since 2005, Siegfried has overseen the Northeast Climate Impacts Assessments (NCIA), a collaboration of the UCS and a group of 40 multidisciplinary scientists working to discover future eff ects of global warming.

Siegfried displayed changes based on two different scenarios; one reflected the future of the environment with significant conservation efforts and the other represented no conservation and continuing high level of carbon dioxide output. Both scenarios predict significant climate changes in the Northeast based on the CO2 levels of the past 30 years that cannot be reversed.

"By the year 2070, in the decreased emissions scenario there would be a six-degree temperature increase and in the higher emissions scenario there is a 12-degree temperature increase," Sigfried said.

Without significant CO2 conservation, that could translate to an increase from about 10 days of 90-degree heat a year in this region to 64 days by 2070, the NCIA report said.

"The heat index in future Northeast summers will feel like South Carolina summer climate is today," Siegfried said.

Increased temperatures will bring earlier springs and more moderate winters. The report said that snow, generally a reality for at least 30 days, will move to strictly high altitude areas.

"Under both emission scenarios, winters will have less snow and more intense rainfall," Siegfried said.

Rising sea levels from the melting polar ice caps will aff ect directly the 192-mile coastline that is home to 4.8 million people, 75 percent of the state's population, the report said. The chances of flooding in Boston will rise from 1 percent chance to 50 percent; by 2070, places like Faneuil Hall and Government Center will be in a flood zone, under NCIA predictions.

The Assabet River area could face an increase in summer droughts and winter flooding. The low flow and heavy flow has great implications on the wild life of the rivers and could potentially result in extinction of some of the native wildlife, NCIA reported.

Although some of the aff ects are already set in motion, the immediate and drastic decrease in CO2 emissions into the atmosphere can help avoid some of the more severe outcomes. The UCS encourages Massachusetts residents to help reduce CO2 emissions, to find out what they can do on a state level and to write to Ian Bowles, the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Aff airs, about regulations on greenhouse gas regulations.

On a local level, the representatives from OAR and the UCS encouraged the community members to get involved with the local eff orts that are trying to reduce CO2 emissions today and to tell a friend. For information about how to get involved in the community, visit www. assabetriver.org, www.greenmarlborough. org.