The Highlands
Most people probably pass by this massive rocky outcropping without thinking much about it, but the Highland has amazing stories to tell. This jumble of huge boulders dates back to the last Ice Age. They were part of a much larger glacier that retreated as the region’s climate warmed, leaving ancient evidence in its wake. While climate change was responsible for shaping the Highland and many other Newton landscapes over 12,000 years ago, climate change now is very different. Today’s climate change has accelerated at an unnatural pace. Carbon and methane emissions are skyrocketing, contributing to a “greenhouse effect” that causes global warming. New England winters are growing shorter and warmer, and hot summer days are increasing. New England temperatures have increased by an average of .5 degrees Fahrenheit per decade and winter temperatures are rising at 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit per decade