New Jersey Moving North

If, however, one was predisposed to living in a state with an even further reduced economy, they might find enjoyment in increased forest productivity and a deer population that will likely grow explosively. The US National Assessment of Climate Change ran a number of experiments and found that carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) actually helps bacteria in the soil take nitrogen out of the air and convert it into a form that trees can use to grow, a process called nitrogen fixation. This benefit would be reduced but not completely counteracted by the formation of toxic ground level ozone (or smog) which incidentally can also be attributed to various respiratory problems. Timber prices, therefore, would supposedly remain lower than they would in a future without climate change.

With rising temperatures, oaks would begin to out compete maples. This is not to say that maples couldn’t grow, oaks would simply be more adapted to the conditions. Amid the invasive species that would likely be the first to colonize areas of new growth would fall tons of acorns, one of the primary foods of Whitetail Deer. One drive through some parts of New Jersey and Connecticut will reveal various groups of deer darting between suburban ranch houses and across roads. If they manage to subsist so well there we must wonder how well they might do in our comparatively undeveloped state. An increase in hunting related tourism would by no means supplement the loss of a ski industry but it would be undeniably valuable.

While the prospect of global warming could by no means be overly cheerful, it will almost certainly not emerge as a Day After Tomorrow style apocalypse either. Instead, we could expect a troublesome but at times interesting ride. Besides, if one became nostalgic they could always gather up their passports and a change of clothes and go visit Vermont in Canada.