Overall Massachusetts Temperatures Are Soaring and Why This Is Serious

So, there’s good news and bad news about temperatures in Massachusetts.  The good news is, temperatures are getting warmer as we head towards mid-spring and the summer season.  The bad news is, temperatures are getting warmer…at a rate higher in Massachusetts than almost anywhere else.

According to recent reports, the state of Massachusetts is experiencing some of the greatest increase in overall temperature in the last twenty years.  The mean temperature in Massachusetts from 1901-2000 was 46.90 degrees.  The mean temperature from 2001-2002 was 49.07, leading to a 4.62% increase.  This puts Massachusetts at #6 on the list on states that are warming up the most rapidly.

In fact, all of New England is on that list of states.  The top 10 are:

• New Jersey
• Alaska
• Delaware
• Rhode Island
• Connecticut
• Massachusetts
• Vermont
• New Hampshire
• Arizona
• Maine

Factor in New Jersey and Delaware, and the majority of those states are part of the Mid-North Atlantic Coast.

Climate change is of course the reason for this. 

Get our free mobile app

Now, if you’re like me and dislike the cold weather, you may be tempted to celebrate.  Overall warmer weather in Massachusetts?  Sign me up!  Unfortunately, the rapidly rising temperatures could have a negative impact for years to come, and it’s expected that by 2100 the average summer temperature here in Massachusetts would be similar to the average summer temperature in North-Miami is right now.

Some of those negative impacts include: a longer mosquito season, more days with dangerous extreme heat, drier summers which will strain crops and farms, rising sea levels that will increase coastal flooding, the potential for more frequent and more intense severe storms, more wildfires like what we saw recently in Clarksburg/Williamstown, a longer pollen season for allergies, longer Lyme disease season…you get the idea. 

Our natural eco-system here in the northeast is defined by the four seasons…and while it might be nice to have a shorter winter, there are all those negative effects to consider also.  Heck, even our maple syrup production will be affected as spring temperatures arrive earlier each year.

While it may not seem like it with the cold, dreary weather we’ve had a for a couple weeks, temperatures in Massachusetts and the northeast are rising at a higher rate than almost any other part of the country.  Exactly how high, and how fast they’ll rise we’ll see over the coming years, but as the climate continues to change, so will our challenges here in Massachusetts, and New England in general.