Packing high winds and high seas, last winter’s wallop completely remodeled the underwater topography of the surf zone – leading to dozens of beach rescues this summer.
Penelope Overton
Staff Writer
Penny Overton is excited to be the Portland Press Herald’s first climate reporter. Since joining the paper in 2016, she has written about Maine’s lobster and cannabis industries, covered state politics and spent a fellowship year exploring the impact of climate change on the lobster fishery with the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team. Before moving to Maine, she has covered politics, environment, casino gambling and tribal issues in Florida, Connecticut, and Arizona. Her favorite assignments allow her to introduce readers to unusual people, cultures, or subjects. When off the clock, Penny is usually getting lost in a new book at a local coffeehouse, watching foreign crime shows or planning her family’s next adventure.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Pilot program will pay Maine’s big forest owners to increase carbon storage
The foundation estimates the 12,000 enrolled acres have the potential to store an additional 250,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide through the adoption of climate-smart practices.
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Posted inLocal & State, News
Launch of Maine research satellite delayed once again
Built by Maine college students, MESAT-1 will collect climate data for Maine students studying urban heat islands, phytoplankton and harmful algae blooms.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Maine’s first satellite is ready for orbit, but launch is delayed
MESAT-1, one of 8 nano-satellites set to hitch a ride aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket, will collect climate data for experiments designed by Falmouth, Fryeburg and Saco students.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Volume of Maine’s storm and sewage overflows more than doubled in 2023
Heavy rains coming in back-to-back storms, sometimes when the ground was frozen, contributed to high levels of untreated storm and sewer water being washed in Maine’s rivers and bays last year, resulting in shellfish bed and beach closures.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State, News
Looming flood threat: Maine coastal infrastructure at risk as soon as 2030
The Union of Concerned Scientists predicts that high-tide flooding caused by rising seas will hit critical facilities with a few years if emissions stay the same.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Heat wave gives Maine a sneak peek at summers of the future
Maine isn’t used to or prepared for the heat that’s coming our way, experts say, and some communities are more vulnerable than others.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Report lays out Maine’s latest climate projections. Here’s what you need to know.
Scientists and working groups weigh in on all aspects of climate change, from heat waves to soaring pollen counts to sea level rise, to help the Maine Climate Council set new goals for the second installment of Maine Won’t Wait, the state’s climate action plan.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Hundreds of Maine households are stranded in PFAS limbo
The state says it can’t afford to mitigate PFAS issues at homes near sludge hot spots that pass state drinking water standards but fail the new federal ones.
Posted inBusiness, Local & State
First $1 million of PFAS relief fund reaches Maine farmers
The vast majority of it went to replace income lost at 4 Maine farms struggling to overcome contamination, but the the Fund to Address PFAS Contamination will not release any details.