NENC New England

10/30/2024

A new study finds that lobsters are relocating to new habitats in the Gulf of Maine.

The findings could have implications for how the lobster stock is measured and how the fishery is eventually managed.

Lobsters have typically favored rocky boulders and used those habitats as shelter. But a research team with the University of Maine found that the use of those habitats dropped by 60% over the last 25 years or so.

Lobsters are instead spending more time in sandy, open spaces or residing under beds of algae.

Damian Brady, an oceanography professor at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center, said the findings challenge common assumptions fisheries managers have had about the species and the methods used to survey and assess the lobster population.

“The implications are that I just count up as much good habitat as out there and say that’s the maximum amount of lobsters that should be in this area,” he said. “And now we really can’t hang our hat on that.”

The study finds that lobsters are more widely distributed and venturing out into deeper waters, as the temperature in the Gulf of Maine has risen by 3 degrees Celsius over the last two-to-three decades.

Researchers also said the average lobster is larger today than it was 25 years ago, but a majority are still under the minimum legal size to be caught and sold.

✍️ Story by Nicole Ogrysko
📷 Image by Katherine Burnham / University of Maine

10/23/2024

It may have felt like summer the past few days but fall is in full swing across New England! 🍁 🍂

Vibrant foliage has blanketed the region with hues of yellow, orange and red. Swipe through to see different autumnal scenes from each New England state.

📷 Images by:
1. Sam Hockaday
2. James Fiderio
3. Lucy Santerre
4. Jacqlyn Rena
5. Zoey Knox
6/7. Allison Magnus
8. Sophie Stephens
9. Erin O’Neill
10. Liz Lerner

10/22/2024

New England is known for its vivid displays of autumn color, but climate change is making it harder for scientists to predict when foliage season will start or how long it will last.

Fall days and nights are getting warmer which is changing when trees stop producing chlorophyll to get ready for the winter, said Aaron Bergdahl, a forest pathologist with the Maine Forest Service.

That process allows yellow, red and orange pigments to come through in leaves that eventually drop off.

“If those two things happen very closely together because of longer, warmer autumns, then that can potentially impact what we see in terms of fall foliage,” Bergdahl said.

Increasingly unpredictable weather can affect foliage too. Lots of rain or a drought during the growing season can impact tree health, according to Bergdahl. A wet spring and summer, for example, can increase the chance of fungal diseases and cause premature defoliation, he added.

Warmer fall weather might even disrupt the foliage process to the point that leaves may drop before fully developing colors, Bergdahl said.

“These are questions that we just don’t know the answer to, because the rules of the game have changed. What we thought we knew about fall foliage is really up in the air right now,” Bergdahl said. “The seasons are a little bit different and our growing seasons are less predictable and generally have a little bit more stress than what we recognized 10, 20, years ago.”

Research from Acadia National Park found peak foliage season now arrives more than a week later than it did in the 1950s. And by 2060, that period could shift to late October and early November.

The study, published last year in the journal Landscape Ecology, concluded that “minimum temperatures, maximum temperatures, precipitation, and the number of warm nights, hot nights, warm days, hot days, and downpour days have all significantly increased,” affecting the timing of foliage.

For the full story visit mainepublic.org.

✍️ Story by Peter McGuire
📷 Image by Esta Pratt-Kielley

10/18/2024

Quick glimpse of the full hunter super moon above Amherst, Massachusetts. 🌕

Stay tuned for some more moon pics tomorrow! 👀

📷 Image by Zydalis Bauer

10/16/2024

Some western Massachusetts farmers say the apple bounty is so good this year they’re giving away thousands of pounds of the fruit. That’s in stark contrast to last year, when a late frost decimated local apple crops.

Leslie Harris of Quon-Quont Farm in Whately said the farm normally sells apples directly to customers, including those who pick their own. But this year, she said, there are just too many for that market.

“We can only sell so many through that model, and we don’t have any of the infrastructure that would sell those off the farm,” she said. “So the best thing to happen to them is that they’re going to go where they’re needed.”

The farm invited an anti-hunger organization, Rachel’s Table of Western Massachusetts, to pick the extras — a process known as gleaning.

The organization said it’s already donated 10,000 pounds of apples to food programs this season, and almost 20,000 pounds of other produce.

Harris said climate change makes harvesting more unpredictable from year to year. That can be a strain on farming income, she said, but better to have too many apples than too few.

✍️ / 📷 Story and image by Karen Brown

10/11/2024

Catching a glimpse of the northern lights never gets old! ✨

Across New England, the northern lights are making yet another appearance tonight.

Let us know in the comments where you are seeing them from!

📷 Visuals by Zydalis Bauer
📍 Holyoke, MA 8:53pm

09/28/2024

Michael Moore has spent decades studying critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. But the veterinarian, author and scientist emeritus from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution had never seen an offshore wind farm up close — until last week.

09/27/2024

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will grant the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation $1.5 million for electric vehicles and charging stations.

The grant will help replace tribal government vehicles with hybrid and electric options. It’s part of the tribe’s Climate Pollution Reduction Project, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector.

Rahiem Eleazer is the tribe’s environmental liaison. In an interview with WSHU, Eleazer said funds will also be used to establish EV charging stations at various locations. He said this is the first step in many environmentally focused projects from the tribe.

Roughly 12 EV stations will be built at various locations throughout the tribal lands. Some locations include the tribe’s museum, community center, governmental offices, and potentially tribal members’ homes.

When not in use by tribal members, Eleazer said stations can be used by visitors.

Eleazer said the project will roll out in phases and expects it to be completed within the next five years. Rebates will be provided to tribe residents who purchase EVs and provide educational programs.

“Mixed into all of them is an educational component. Where we educate the community about the importance of reducing emissions from the transportation sector,” Eleazer said.

The tribe is one of 34 selected applications through the competitive Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program through President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

EPA officials released a statement that claimed the proposed projects would cumulatively reduce greenhouse gas pollution by over 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2050.

For the full story click on the link in our bio.

✍️ Story by Jeniece Roman
📷 Image by Raquel C. Zaldívar

09/12/2024

Connecticut is home to many famous actors — including four-legged ones. They have names like Sandy from the show "Annie" and Bruiser from the musical "Legally Blonde." Most are rescues from animal shelters. Their trainer is Bill Berloni, who's helped them become showbiz stars.

09/10/2024

09/07/2024

09/07/2024

Dave Anderson goes out on a limb and says conditions are right for New Hampshire to enjoy the most colorful fall foliage seen in a decade.

09/06/2024

There’s been a lot of attention on mosquito-borne illnesses in recent weeks, after a New Hampshire man died from eastern equine encephalitis, also known as Triple E. Other human cases of this rare but serious virus have also been reported in Massachusetts and Vermont.

Dr. Benjamin Chan, New Hampshire’s state epidemiologist, says it’s not uncommon for these viruses to peak every few years — and Triple E, in particular, is especially active this season.

As more reports of mosquito-borne illnesses pop up around New England, health officials are warning people to be extra careful to protect themselves.

“We don’t want to scare people,” Chan said. “We want people to go out and enjoy the remaining nice weather, but we want people to be aware that there is risk this season — and, we believe, elevated risk for these viruses — and people should take appropriate precautions to protect themselves against mosquito bites when they’re outdoors.”

There are no vaccines or other specific antiviral treatments for these infections in humans, Chan said.

The symptoms and severity of these illnesses vary, but Triple E can be especially dangerous.

“Some people may have very mild symptoms that resolve on their own,” Chan said. “But what’s concerning about these viruses is that they can and do cause very severe neurologic symptoms that can lead to infection in the brain, meningitis.”

Swipe to learn how to stay safe and recognize the symptoms and for the full story, click on the link in our bio or visit nhpr.org.

✍️ Story by NHPR staff
📷 Photo by Paul Cuno-Booth

09/03/2024

This summer, reporter Ben James rode his bike the length of the Connecticut River, talking to people who love it. And people who don’t. Here's Ben's essay describing those conversations, with photos from along the way.

08/30/2024

New research from Dartmouth shows one type of seabird in the Gulf of Maine, the black guillemot, has concentrations of mercury in their feathers that are above levels known to have effects on reproduction in other species.

The study also looked at common terns and roseate terns, which had lower levels of mercury. That’s explained in part by the different diets of the birds; guillemots eat fish that are higher on the food chain, and may have accumulated more mercury.

Lenny Laird did the research as part of their undergraduate thesis, while working as a research technician in the lab of Dr. Celia Chen. They spent a summer on the Isles of Shoals, looking for birds’ nests, checking on newly hatched chicks, taking down feathers and the contour feathers they develop as they grow. Laird focused on measuring levels of mercury – a harmful neurotoxin.

“Even though mercury levels might be decreasing worldwide, it’s still a persistent problem in the Gulf of Maine,” they said. “It’s still there in the food web. And it’s still reaching levels in species like the guillemots, where it could potentially affect hatching and success of some of those populations.”

They said part of why the research is important is that it helps give a big picture of mercury in the ocean in general.

Celia Chen, a research professor at Dartmouth who advised Laird on the research, said one of the important takeaways is that black guillemots may be at risk of negative health impacts. But the study also provides evidence that the birds could be a good candidate for further studies on the reach of mercury. Because they’re not threatened or endangered, black guillemots could be a species scientists use to monitor the health of the surrounding environment.

To read the full story click on the link in our bio or visit nhpr.org

✍️ Story by Mara Hoplamazian
📷 Photo Courtesy of Tim Briggs / Dartmouth College

08/28/2024

Stellwagen Bank is a federally protected marine sanctuary located north of Cape Cod at the mouth of Massachusetts Bay. The marine sanctuary is home to more than 200 sunken shipwrecks, many of which are hotspots for marine debris.

This summer, a team of Woods Hole scientists received a grant from the federal government to figure out how to deal with all this marine debris.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution biologist Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser is one of the scientists leading the project. As a diver as well as a biologist, Meyer-Kaiser has seen some of these debris-riddled wrecks first-hand.

This project will have three components to it – removal, prevention and education.

To give this story a listen click on the link in our bio or visit capeandislands.org.

✍️ Story by Gilda Geist
📷 Photos by:
1,3 Courtesy of Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser
2 Gilda Geist

08/27/2024

In February, when the Federal Emergency Management Agency introduced its draft of an updated flood map for Johnson, Vermont, it showed the 100-year floodplain was getting smaller, not bigger. That meant the map showed flood risks were decreasing and it excluded some areas that have flooded three times in the past year.

The smaller floodplain on the proposed maps came to the attention of town and county officials while they were looking for places to relocate some buildings to avoid future floods. State officials raised concerns and asked FEMA to incorporate more recent flood data into the maps.

The agency initially said they wouldn’t revise the maps. This month they changed their tune – FEMA officials said they will review the map, and possibly update it. Why these maps matter:

💰 FEMA floodplain maps are used to determine if people need to purchase flood insurance. They also make it easier for people living in designated flood zones to get FEMA buyouts.

🏫 The maps can help towns make decisions about where to develop and relocate flood-prone infrastructure – an important task as climate change brings more extreme rain and flooding to the region.

📜 FEMA’s flood maps are notoriously outdated, and often don’t fully capture flood risks in an area, which is why the agency has been working to update the maps all around the country. Johnson’s current flood map is from the 1980s. FEMA began the years-long process to update it in 2019, and didn’t incorporate data from the past year.

⏳ It’s unclear when the new flood maps for Johnson will be finished. Even if FEMA hadn’t paused its process to add the recent flood data, it would still take at least two years for the maps to become official.

🔎 Many other Vermont towns are waiting on updated flood maps from FEMA. After what happened in Johnson, local officials have alerted other towns around the state to closely examine any draft maps they receive.

Find more environment and nature stories every other week in the Out There newsletter. Visit Vermontpublic.org or click on the link in our bio to subscribe.

✍️ Caption by Lexi Krupp
📷 Photo by Joey Palumbo

08/16/2024

In a small forest in Windsor, Connecticut, scientist Richard Cowles is among a team of Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station employees spending his days studying a microscopic roundworm causing beech leaf disease.

The organism, a foliar nematode called litylenchus crenatae mccannii, feeds on the tree’s leaves and buds, causing premature leaf drop and weakening the tree so it is more susceptible to other pests and environmental stressors. In recent years, scientists said the invasive species dampened New England’s golden fall foliage because it caused unprecedented leaf drop.

Now, Cowles is trying to determine how such a tiny organism, which was first detected in Ohio in 2012, was able to rapidly spread to all of New England in less than 15 years.

Cowles said his research revealed the invasive organism “can be blown in little aerosolized droplets during a heavy rain event when it’s very windy.”

The distribution map for Beech leaf disease also suggests wind was playing a key role, according to Cowles.

It’s not just wind that’s likely helping the organism spread, he said.

“This year, we have some evidence that they are also carried on the feet of birds during these rain events,” Cowles said.

An infected beech will develop dark bands on its leaves or the leaves will become crinkled, small and leathery.

It’s believed this invasive pest likely came from Asia, according to Cowles.

The research at CAES isn’t just focused on how the foliar nematode migrates from state to state, but also on how it can be combated.

Scientists say beech leaf disease’s full environmental impact has not yet been felt in New England.

“Bear in mind that we have had only a few years to document this disease,” Connecticut forest pathologist Robert Marra said. “Which is merely a blink in time when it comes to trees.”

To read the full story head over to ctpublic.org or click on the link in our bio.

✍️ Story by Jennifer Ahrens
📷 Photos by Tyler Russell .ct

08/14/2024

Lee Alexander has been keeping bees most of his life, and learned from his grandfather and great uncle. He’s quick to mention he’s no beekeeping expert, but in 50 years, he’s seen a thing or two.

And this year has really thrown him for a loop.

Alexander says spring and summer temperatures came earlier this year. Wildflowers arrived with them, weeks ahead of schedule. This set up his bees to collect a lot of nectar and pollen, creating some unexpected problems in the hive.

Alexander’s bees quickly made more honey than they could store in the upper chambers of the hive, where it belongs. Instead, they began storing it in the brood chambers, meant for reproduction.

“They put honey everywhere they possibly could,” he said. “And the queen said, ‘Hey, what’s going on here? I have no place to lay eggs.’”

Worker bees only live for about a few weeks to a month, and a queen has to lay thousands of eggs each day to replace them. Without room to do so, Alexander’s hives will dwindle in numbers, threatening their survival as fall approaches.

Alexander said there are steps beekeepers can take to deal with high volumes of honey. He recently spent a day clearing out the brood chambers in his hives, to give the queen space for her eggs. Some of the hives have improved. But it’s not easy to manage.

“I’m a reasonably experienced, mostly capable, somewhat handsome beekeeper,” he said. ”But… I couldn’t keep up.”

Olivia Saunders, a field specialist with University of New Hampshire extension, said Alexander isn’t alone in facing challenges.

“Some of the more seasoned beekeepers…when they started, it was just get a hive, check on it at the end of the year, harvest your honey, repeat the next year,” she said. “Now there’s just so much more management and skill you need to have as a beekeeper to read the hive and understand what’s going on.”

For the full story, head on over to nhpr.org or click on the link in our bio.

✍️ 📷 Story and Photos by Amanda Pirani

08/12/2024

Perseid meteor shower and another northern lights spectacular in New England! ✨💫

📷 Photos by Zydalis Bauer
📍 Holyoke, Massachusetts

08/09/2024

Our public media journalists explored fun things to do on day trips in the states that make up New England. Not a bad assignment.

08/08/2024

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation will receive federal funds to improve conservation and climate practices at its farm in North Stonington, Connecticut.

The tribe accepted $2 million from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and signed the Alternative Funding Agreement (AFA) to use the funds for conservation and climate-smart practices at the Tribe’s Meechooôk Farm.

Meechooôk Farm was established in 2016. The farm grows fruits and vegetables in greenhouses for tribe members year-round. The greenhouses contain hydroponic lettuce, tomatoes and fruit. The land also supports livestock including cows. It was made possible through support from the University of Connecticut and the Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program.

A majority of the food harvested goes to a food assistance program for tribal members, the rest is sold. During the growing season, tribal members receive a box of vegetables every two weeks. Tribal leaders say the farm allows the tribe to be self-sufficient while being environmentally sustainable.
The funding will increase plant productivity and livestock production. It will also support initiatives to improve air quality, soil and water quality, and greenhouse gas emissions.

For the full story click on the link in our bio or visit wshu.org.

✍️ 📷 Story and Photo by Jeniece Roman

08/04/2024

This week, Richmond officials went over what’s been fixed or needs fixing following the floods of July 10 and 11, including the town’s wastewater pump station, the Volunteers Green park, a new utility truck, roads and culverts — not to mention entire neighborhoods of homes.

08/02/2024

Last month, the town of Johnson in Vermont got lucky. When the Lamoille River overflowed its banks for the third time in a year, the river didn’t reach the town’s wastewater plant. Only a few inches of water got into the new post office. Most homes and businesses were spared.

“We dodged the bullet,” said Erik Bailey, the town manager. “By the skin of our teeth, basically.”

Bailey says three recent floods — last summer, in December, and again this July, are among the top five biggest floods in Johnson on record. He has a theory about why so many of the worst floods have happened so recently.

“Everyone’s gonna say climate change, and I’m sure it might have something to do with it,” he said. “But the biggest thing, I’m fully convinced, is because the rivers are so shallow now, because we stopped dredging.”

This idea of digging our rivers deeper as a way to protect places like Johnson in some ways feels obvious.

“Intuitively, it makes all the sense in the world. If our buildings are getting wet, then let’s make the channels deeper, let’s make the pipe bigger, and transport that water downstream,” Shayne Jaquith, a river scientist with The Nature Conservancy, said on Vermont Edition last month.

Dredging prevents flood waters from rising as often. But it comes with a big tradeoff. When rivers do flood, they’re a lot more destructive.

When you make a stream deeper, it becomes more powerful — sort of like a firehose. Eventually, that pressure will release. That’s when roads and bridges wash out, and homes get swept away. Not from rivers rising, but from the sheer force of water.

But despite its risks, dredging still has a place to protect existing homes and businesses and roads.

The state approved hundreds of dredging permits last year, and they’re sure to approve more after this summer’s flooding.

For the full story click on the link in our bio or visit vermontpublic.org.

✍️ Story by Lexi Krupp and Abagael Giles
📷 Image courtesy of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Rivers Program

07/26/2024

Six commercial woodland owners have been selected to pilot climate smart forestry that advocates hope could help store millions more tons of fossil fuel emissions in the north Maine woods.

The New England Forestry Foundation said the landowners would incorporate methods that would eventually result in healthier, stronger forests and more valuable products.

The techniques aren’t “rocket science,” said Brian Milakovsky, foundation senior forester. On some Maine acreage timber companies already cut down overgrown young woodlots to encourage more valuable trees, called pre-commercial thinning, and use similar climate smart methods.

But a high up-front cost means those practices aren’t widespread, Milakovsky said.

“They later on pay back in excellent growth in high quality trees, but that’s the thing about forest management, payoff is really far out in the future,” he said.

If the pilot works, there could be an opportunity to greatly expand the practices across Maine’s vast woodlands.

The Maine woods already store a huge amount of carbon, enough to offset about 60 percent of the state’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report from a forest carbon taskforce at the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future.

But foundation executive director Robert Perschel said broad adoption of climate smart forestry across New England could trap hundreds of millions more tons of carbon for decades.

The foundation intends to open the program to applicants from medium and small-acreage woodlot owners as the five-year pilot matures.

For the full story click on the link in our bio or visit mainepublic.org.

✍️ Story by Peter McGuire
📷 Image by Charlie Eichacker