The tree sap used in making maple syrup contains half as much sugar as it did in the 1950s and 1960s in the forests of New England, says National Geographic. “The sugar maple is stressed to the point of decline and many scientists studying this beloved tree believe rising temperatures are the cause.” The syrup industry already is moving north – Canada dominates production of syrup, with the United States producing one-fifth of the world total. Forest scientist Barry Rock of the University of New Hampshire says there is a direct correlation between long-term temperature rise and the lower sugar content of sap. Weather data show temperatures in the U.S. Northeast are as much as 2.8 degrees higher than they were in 1971. When temperatures rise, sugar maples produce less sugar and their fall foilage is less colorful.
“But there may be hope yes,” writes Sarah Brown for National Geographic. Improved technology and more efficient operations allow tappers to collect more sap than 20 years ago. Professor Tim Perkins of the University of Vermont says “plantation” tapping of young sugar maple trees that are planted closely together can produce comparable amounts of sugar from trees that are better able to withstand the warming trend.