On peak, US panel talks of warming

FRANCONIA, N.H. -- If members of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming could have peered through the storm clouds atop Cannon Mountain yesterday, they would have seen for themselves why the region's residents are so anxious about global warming.

On a clear day, as far as the eye can see from the mountain, every business in this New Hampshire region depends on the climate, from its ski lifts to its hotels, from farms to snowmobile trails.

That climate is changing fast. Average winter temperatures in New England have risen more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970, and the region is also experiencing less snow and more rain, more severe storms, earlier springs, and longer growing seasons, research shows.

"This is not climate change in the future. . . . It's now," said Cameron Wake, a research associate professor at the University of New Hampshire.

US Representative Edward J. Markey, the Malden Democrat chairing the Global Warming Committee, called the mountaintop summit at 4,186 feet to underscore what he says are growing concerns in New England and throughout the country about climate change's effect on almost every aspect of the economy.

He also chose New Hampshire, he said, because the state is a leader in attempting to address climate change, from its focus on energy efficiency to the 160 towns that have adopted a resolution urging Congress to pass mandatory greenhouse gas emission limits.

"We already know that if we don't cut global warming pollution, we may need to rename Glacier National Park, because one day there may be no glaciers," Markey told the 60 people who packed the mountaintop cafeteria. "Now, it appears we may also have to one day rename the White Mountains, because there may be no snow."

The panel asked questions of a state official, a maple syrup specialist, a representative from Timberland, and a sportsman about changes they see and solicited advice on how best to slow global warming without slowing the economy. Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin, the ranking Republican on the committee, told the audience that not all climate changes will be bad and that any potential solution has to include China and India.

"When talking about global warming, there is a lot to think about locally, but if we act, we must do so globally," Sensenbrenner said. He said there have been other warming and cooling periods in the last century and asked Wake if the warming could be natural, rather than man-made.

Wake said that was unlikely. The warming trend in New England began around 1970s, the same time that temperatures started rising worldwide. A consensus of scientists attributes that global increase to emissions of heat-trapping gases from power plants and cars.

And while hard data is not yet available , Wake and others at the hearing said that climate change seems to be accelerating. For example, New Hampshire officials said they have had three storms in the last three years that were classified as 100-year storms, meaning that their severity is expected only once a century. While no one or two events can be linked directly to climate change, last year's warm winter and the balmy start of this past winter is raising question in people's minds, Wake said.

Bill Koury, a sportsman and former president of the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation, gave a hunter's firsthand view of the changes. He used to worry about snow when he went deer hunting in November. Now, he worries about rain.

"We now have bluefish coming into New Hampshire and Maine waters," Koury said. "When I was a youngster, they didn't venture north of Cape Cod."

Beth Daley can be reached at bdaley@globe.com.