No maple syrup by 2100?

[Starting Small]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzI1SbSpBZc

I came across this on youtube. Any truth to this? I have noticed a lot of people on this forum are saying this year their sugar content is at about 1.6%. Is that because it is so early in the year or because of what this video is saying? I have no clue as I am new to this.

[Tithis]

I doubt it. The commercial range my change with time, but I doubt it would ever be extreme enough to stop production. During the last ice age we were all under a glacier, and during the warming period Massachusetts was like Virginia.

[SDdave]

I agree with tithis. But on a side note...way to go to the lady seeking her PhD at 61!

[Dill]

And during that warming period all of my taps were under the ocean.

[Tithis]

Exactly. The Sugar maple has been around for a long time and moved up and down the continent with the warming and cooling of the earth and the rise and fall of the oceans, leaving behind pockets that are the ancestors of Florida maples, Canyon maples and the like.

I dislike the comparison to 1970's temperatures though as they were actually low compared to historical averages at the time. I can understand trying to make a point that temperatures have risen, which they have, but picking a point of comparison in an abnormally cold period is distorting the facts.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Global_Cooling_Map.png

Now I'm personally open to the idea that human activity can affect the climate, but I am unsure of the exact effect it will have. We don't have a full understanding of the earths climate system. I think there are too many variables and estimates used in projection for us to be really sure of the effects of human caused climate change. If the theory that melting sea ice could shut down the north atlantic drift and gulf stream turned out to be true we could actually see a temperature drop eventually. There's also ideas about a warmer artic messing with the north atlantic oscillation and and driving artic air southward(warmer then normal artic air, but cold by our temperate standards)

They changed it from global warming to climate change for a reason, while they expect global mean temperatures to rise they can't be sure that warming will be the result in all regions.

[Revi]

I think there will be some maple syrup by 2100, but it may not be a commercial product like it is now. There are a number of reasons. One is acid rain. Up in the St. Lawrence valley maples are dying because of it. Another is road salt. Roadside maples are taking it hard. I am planting only red maples and lately I have even moved on to a new very tough variety of tree for roadside areas. It's called the Acer Freemani and they are planted in lots of places where a sugar or even a red maple would have trouble. They will be producing some sap in 2100. They were voted street tree of the year and are all over Augusta, Maine for example. I thought they were sugars at first, but then I saw that they were everywhere. They turn a nice red and have leaves that look just like sugars. I think our descendants are going to have to get resourceful and tap trees like box elders. They may not be doing it like us, but I'll bet that someone somewhere will be pouring some maple syrup on a stack of pancakes in 2100!

[Tithis]

By then I imagine the Norway maple will be pervasive enough in our forests for them to be viable too.

[Revi]

Norways are great. They can take the city. And they are great producers. I tapped a bunch and they were almost as good as sugars. The syrup you make with them seems to taste the same. Look at any good sized town in the spring and you will see thousands of them. They put out a big green flower and you can see that most backyards have a couple of good sized trees. I think the Norway has the potential to make a lot of syrup in urban and suburban areas. A lot of people bemoan the fact that they are an invasive, but so are we. They are getting blackspot fungus a lot of places, but they are such a hardy tree that it may not slow them down much. Acer platenoides is fine with me. Tap them! Make some syrup!

[Vermonner]

Frankly, I'm surprised maple survived the "Maple Decline" of the 70's.
...and the Pear Thrip in the '80's
..and if the asian longhorned beetle doesn't get us...
...global warming will.
No longer in existence by 2100? You're optimistic. The ECHO center in Burlington on Lake Champlain has maple syrup being a thing of the past by 2050 as a result of global warming or climate change or whatever it's name will be changed to next week.
I appreciate that we have concerns about the industry enough to bring forth these questions but in my (relatively) short life, I've heard many maple warning bells which are false.

[PerryW]

I believe the state of NH considers Norway Maples an exotic species and discourages their planting.

[Michael Greer]

Norway Maples are not great. They break too easily under snow loads, they have no lovely colors in the fall, and worst of all, they reseed like dandelions. Grown singly, in the middle of a large space, they can make an attractive crown fairly quickly, but the seed themselves into every flower border, hedge row, and un-mowed corner. in crowded conditions they grow at every odd angle, too fast and too weak, and too crooked to ever be worth anything. Lastly, I regularly tap the few in my area...they didn't run AT ALL this year...not early, not late, not at all?!