January’s storm surge and extreme flooding, May’s warmer temperatures, July’s extreme heat — it’s no doubt that South Portland and surrounding communities in Maine are seeing major impacts of climate change. Beyond the visible impacts we’ve experienced, there are many unseen impacts of climate change, which include longer allergy seasons, spread of disease, food insecurity, mental health impacts and more.

Airborne allergens

Do you suffer from a pollen allergy? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that changes in climate, such as warmer temperatures, increasing precipitation and increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the air, can all affect the length and intensity of pollen season. Pollen seasons may begin earlier and last longer than in past decades, and allergy symptoms may be more intense and longer lasting. Further, Maine’s air quality is being impacted by the smoke from wildfires in Canada and the Western U.S., as wildfire smoke can be transported to the East Coast and cause significant exposures and associated health outcomes.

Vector-borne illnesses

This undated photo provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick. Another mild winter and other favorable factors likely means the 2024 tick population will be equal to last year or larger, some researchers say. (CDC via AP, File)

For a lot of us Mainers, it feels like second nature to check for ticks after an outdoor activity. It’s important to remain consistent with doing tick checks, as warmer temperatures year-round support an increase of deer (blacklegged) tick prevalence in northern Maine and the establishment of Lone Star tick populations in southern and coastal Maine. Maine consistently ranks among the top five U.S. states in confirmed cases of Lyme disease, an illness commonly caused from the bite of a deer tick carrying a harmful bacteria. Lyme disease incidences are increasing, as well as the incidence of diseases associated with Lone Star ticks, such as red meat allergy.

Were you bitten by a tick? If so, you might want to consider submitting it to Maine Cooperative Extension’s Tick Testing service. The service tests ticks for common tick-borne diseases and tracks the prevalence throughout Maine. For more information on the tick testing service, visit their website at extension.umaine.edu/ticks/submit.

Mosquito-borne diseases are also on the rise, as increased precipitation and longer growing seasons may prolong the active biting season of mosquitoes, which increases the potential for more outbreaks of eastern equine encephalitis virus in Maine.

Food insecurity

Weather variability is reducing crop yields, causing economic impacts to farms and mental and physical health impacts to farmworkers in Maine. Maine has over 7,600 farms, 96% of which are family farms, on 1.3 million acres. Producers report concerns about reduced crop yields and quality, poor crop and cover crop germination, and increased labor needs associated with irrigation. Additionally, extreme weather, such as an overabundance of rain, makes field access more difficult, increases soil erosion and has negative effects on farm viability and farmworker health and well-being. As a result, farmers are struggling to produce crop yields efficiently which, in turn, negatively impacts their well-being and disrupts our access to food.

Mental health

Adverse mental health impacts of climate change are well documented and vary significantly depending upon how much a person is exposed to climate impacts, underlying burdens of adverse mental health conditions, quality of and access to emergency response and mental health services, and social and cultural support systems. In Maine and around the world, populations that may be at particular risk for the mental health impacts of climate change are children and adolescents, women and Indigenous peoples. Like other regions, Maine has a significant gap in available mental health services for those in need.

For more information on how climate change is affecting the state of Maine, you can read Maine Climate Council’s 2023 climate report at bit.ly/3ZfkrhV.

Learn more at our upcoming Coffee and Climate. Join the One Climate Future Team and guest speaker Dr. Nirav Shah, the principal deputy director for the U.S. CDC and former director of the Maine CDC, to discuss these unseen changes of a warming climate. Grab a cup of coffee and join us on Sept. 13 from 9 to 10 a.m.

You can register for Coffee and Climate by going to oneclimatefuture.org and clicking “Events,” or visiting @Soposustainability on Instagram and clicking the link in our bio. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We hope to see you there!

Jenna d’Arcy is an AmeriCorps/GPCOG Resilience Corps Fellow serving in the Sustainability Office through September. She can be reached at jdarcy@southportland.org. Our Sustainable City is a recurring column in the Sentry intended to provide residents with news and information about sustainability initiatives in South Portland. Follow the Sustainability Office on Instagram @soposustainability.