"All the predictions are essentially worse," Barrett said. She noted an increase in unusual weather events, such as an October nor'easter that caused coastal flooding, and a rise in what she called "sunny day flooding," which occurred during the most recent full moon, inundating roadways and the entrance to Bluff Point State Park in Groton. "Flooding and coastal erosion are moving up to the forefront," she said. "People are seeing that flooding doesn't have to come from a major storm. And people are starting to say, 'What are we going to do about this?' Nobody's ready to retreat, so we have to really think about what we're doing."
Issued by 13 federal agencies, the climate assessment projected that by 2035, the Northeast — encompassing New England and New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia — would become more than 3.6 degrees warmer on average than during the preindustrial era. The increase would be the biggest temperature rise in the contiguous U.S. "and would occur as much as two decades before global temperatures reach a similar milestone," the report said.
"We used to have spring. We used to have fall," Lessor said. "Now it just seems as though you go from winter to early summer. We certainly seem to go from summer straight into extreme coolness."
Not every winter will be warmer, Lessor noted, but on average winters will continue to be warmer as they have for the last 20 years. The state could more often see food crop loss due to early bud break, like the loss of the peach crop in 2016, he said. Ski areas may have to rely on more artificial snow, an expense that could translate into higher ticket prices, he added.
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