Warmer Arctic Could Impact Maine

PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER) - Warming temperatures in the Arctic have scientists concerned about the future of sea levels in Maine.

The debate over whether global warming is a real threat or not will likely rage on for years to come.

But scientists say one thing is clear.... climate change is melting ice in the Arctic at an alarming rate.

The Arctic may seem a world away from Maine, but what happens there will have an impact here.

The rate at which ice in the arctic melted this summer left researchers stunned.

The ice receded to one of its lowest points in 30 years.

Warming temperatures and melting ice in the Arctic will have dramatic consequences for the entire planet.

"Temperature impacts sea level in a bunch of different ways. One is that the warmer ocean just occupies more space. We see sea level rise here in Portland because of that", said Mark Fahnestock, a Research Associate Professor at the University of New Hampshire.

Members of the environmental group Clean Air/Cool Planet choose the parking lot of Becky's, a popular restaurant near the Portland waterfront, to demonstrate what they say sea levels could be 100-years from now.

They say new data gathered from a rapidly warming Arctic show those levels could go up a foot and a half or more in the next 100-years.