Sean Birkel will lead an online presentation called A Frozen Penobscot Bay and Other Stories of Maine’s Historical Climate, hosted by Merryspring Nature Center, on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 12 p.m. 

Many people are familiar with the fabled “Year Without a Summer” of 1816, when several unusually intense cold waves brought killing frost, and even snowfall, to Maine and New England during the summer months.  But fewer people know that during some of the coldest winters of the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries Penobscot Bay froze with sea ice as far south as Camden, permitting foot – and even car travel – on ice between the mainland and islands.  Winters such as those in 1918 and 1934 were so intense that “ice embargoes” brought ship travel to a halt along the East Coast in Long Island Sound and Chesapeake Bay – a stark contrast with today’s climate. 

Join Dr. Birkel as he shares these and other stories from old newspaper articles and books that paint a unique picture of a bygone era in our region, one that provides valuable context for understanding how much Maine's climate has changed.

Sean Birkel, Maine State Climatologist, Climate Change Institute, Cooperative Extension University of Maine

This talk is part of Merryspring’s Online Winter Talk series, co-sponsored by Camden Riverhouse Hotel.  

Online Talks are held as Zoom webinars.

Online Talks are open to everybody, free of charge.

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81734292725?pwd=lXAeIS8Y5Swe01jQDt4IHaSQrQWnLQ.-FtxdOX4UjztRSFN

Passcode: 107566

The link to join each webinar can also be found on the Merryspring Facebook page or website, or by emailing a request to info@merryspring.org.

Note: If you have not received your requested Zoom link by 11 a.m. on the morning of the talk, please email info@merryspring.org.

Merryspring currently does not record nor distribute Tuesday Talks.

Merryspring is your community nature center offering walking trails, cultivated gardens, wildlife, and ecology and horticulture educational programs all year round. The park is located at the end of Conway Road, just off of Route 1 in Camden behind Hannaford Shopping Plaza. For more information on this program, please contact info@merryspring.org or call 207-236-2239.