The Casco Bay region is vulnerable to all seven of the climate stressors identified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA): warmer summers; warmer winters; warmer waters; increased drought; increased storminess (evident in higher total precipitation, frequency and intensity); sea level rise; and ocean acidification (US EPA 2014). These climate stressors do not operate in isolation. Compounding their impacts are factors such as population growth, habitat fragmentation and destruction, and resource depletion that can further tax ecosystems and species.
Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, Natural Choices, Waterview Consulting. (2017). Casco Bay Climate Change Vulnerability Report. Portland, ME: University of Southern Maine, Muskie School of Public Service, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership.
Climate Change, Ocean Acidification, Sea Level Rise