I grew up in Southern New England, splitting my time between my year-round home in Rhode Island and my Summer home on Cape Cod. My family owns a cottage in Mashpee, and it remains my favorite place in the world. How can someone NOT love the Cape, really? Anyway, part of what I have always loved about it, being from SNE, is the climate of the Cape. The summers there are beautiful, with wonderfully humid, salty breezes off the Atlantic and the bay that are always cool and refreshing.
The Cape is known for its shape, which has an impact on wind and water patterns on the climate of the area. This shape the result of a recessional moraine from a glacier hundreds of thousands of years ago. Despite being in New England, the Cape has been referred to as a humid subtropical zone rather than a temperate one due to the influences of the Atlantic.
The waters surrounding the cape are influenced by the Canadian Labrador Current, which keep the water of that part of the Atlantic cooler, typically not getting about 70 degree Fahrenheit. This cool water affects the seasonal weather on the Cape, as well. Having spent time there in all four seasons, I can attest to the fact that the Spring weather in Cape Cod is much cooler than other places in SNE. Likewise, the Fall weather is much warmer than other places. That may be my favorite part about the weather there. My family can still go to my cottage well into October, and often times there has been beach days because of the Indian Summer. This is because the water is still warm from the summer and keeps the Cape warm for a bit longer. Another influential impact the Atlantic has is the, although relatively infrequent, huge storms that tend to hit the Cape which can be devastating.
I'm sure there are many other complex influences on the climate of the Cape, as with all places on this Earth, however they are far beyond my understanding at this point. What I do know, however, is that I love Cape Cod and I hope climate disruption does not have too severe an impact on this beautiful place.
I grew up right outside of Boston and visited my grandmother in Plymouth MA quite often. My family and I have spent a lot of time on the cape and it's a beautiful place that demands attention. Clearly people have a strong love for this area; however, they also have incredible impact on the area. The management of the ecosystems here has always interested me. I am curious as to how the climactic effects influence things such as invasive species, and future extinctions.
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