Impacts of Climate Change

In the Nashua River watershed, geology, hydrology, and climate have combined in a unique way to create one of the most complex landscapes and some of the most diverse habitat anywhere. This area contains remarkable concentrations of glacial landforms including eskers, kettles, moraines, and an impressive “swarm” of drumlins. This set of glacially-derived landforms left intricate and varied topography and soils.

Our watershed also lies precisely at the transition between two forest biomes. One is the northern hardwood-hemlock-pine forests, which extend north to Canada, and the second is the central deciduous-oak-hickory forests, which extend south to Georgia. At the transition of biomes, complex combinations of the vegetation characteristic of each biome are found allowing for a diversity of ecosystems and habitats, which in turn foster a diversity of plants and animals. Our communities have also thrived here with plentiful, high quality water, and moderate temperatures because of our extensive waterways, wetlands, and forestlands.

In the last sixty years, the Northeast has seen a dramatic increase in the amount of rainfall measured during heavy precipitation events, more than a 60% increase. Projections indicate that this trend will continue going forward, with much of the increased rainfall occurring in the winter and early spring when the ground cannot absorb water. At the same time, steadily rising temperatures are causing higher air and water temperatures for extended periods, negatively impacting the health of our plant, animal, and human communities.

What specific risks and impacts are our watershed communities facing due to our changing climate? 

The five communities studied in this project identified a common set of six climate-related risk categories that are facing communities throughout our watershed. There are numerous community impacts related to each of these risks. The Nature-based Solutions put forth in this Plan will focus on these six risk categories.

Across the board, our changing climate will make providing community services like water, sewer, and road/infrastructure maintenance more expensive while potentially causing a reduction in tax revenues with reduced property values. It is well worth the time for our communities to assess their risks and impacts, and consider Nature-based Solution implementation.

Climate Resilience

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