This isn’t the first time the climate has changed. What did species do about it last time?

This coming Wednesday, Maine State Climatologist George Jacobson will deliver his talk “Climate Change: Past and Future Effects on Plants and Animals in Maine” as part of the Maine Audubon Speaker Series in Falmouth.

George Jacobson

Jacobson’s presentation promises to look back at how the natural world reacted to climate change over history to help inform our outlook on how it might respond to our current climbing temperatures.

Jacobson said in a statement:

We hear a lot now about how our climate is changing and what that might mean for Maine’s wildlife, forests, and even recreational opportunities. What might surprise people is how much we can learn from biological responses to climate shifts that have taken place in the past, even many thousands of years ago.

The event begins at 7 p.m. at the Gilsland Farm Center in Falmouth, and is free. Jacobson, Professor Emeritus at UMaine, is the lead author of the 2009 report “Maine’s Climate Future: An Initial Assessment.”

Here’s another comment by him on the topic:

Climate changes driven by our activities, especially the use of fossil fuels, will be the great global challenge for the next few generations. How we adapt to largely unprecedented conditions will determine the fate of not just natural ecosystems, but even our own social order.

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.