DIXFIELD – Ice fishing seasons are growing shorter, two 100-year floods have occurred in Kennebunk in 11 months, and the state has had an increase in ozone causing unhealthy air quality.

Blame global warming, a speaker told a crowd here Tuesday night.

Sara Lovitz, outreach educator for the Climate Project with the Natural Resources Council of Maine, brought a PowerPoint presentation based on Al Gore’s book “An Inconvenient Truth” to about two dozen people on Tuesday night as part of the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition 10th anniversary series.

While many people think global warming is something that might happen somewhere else, Lovitz said if carbon emissions aren’t reduced, Maine could have Washington, D.C.-like summers by the end of the century, thousands of acres of coastline could be under water, and snow cover would be so reduced that skiing, snowmobiling, logging and other activities would be severely reduced. Only the northern two-thirds of the state would experience 30 days of continuous snow cover.

Warmer temperatures have already caused the spread of West Nile virus and Lyme disease because the insects that carry the diseases have migrated north with the warmer temperatures.

“With Maine’s later frosts, there is more infestation of insects in forests. This is a threat to Maine because we are 90 percent forested,” she said.

Warmer fresh waters and oceans can reduce or eliminate cold water fish such as trout and salmon. Lobsters like the cold of the ocean. If the seas continue to warm up, then lobsters might also go.

While Lovitz outlined the consequences of increased carbon emissions, which most scientists agree cause at least part of global warming, she also said steps are being taken within the state, nationally and globally to reduce the greenhouse effect.

Greater development of wind energy and solar power could replace much of the energy produced by fossil fuels, and individuals can reduce their carbon footprint by changing the way they live.

“A common misconception is that global warming is so huge, nothing can be done about it. There are a whole number of solutions,” she said.

Among them are replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs, driving fuel efficient or hybrid vehicles, carpooling or using public transportation, installing low-flow shower heads, buying only low energy-use appliances, recycling, eating locally produced foods, and getting organized with others to see how many pounds of carbon emissions can be saved.

A booklet issued by the NRCM estimates that 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per year can be saved by recycling half a household’s trash. It also notes that for every mile over 60 mph driven, 10 cents more per gallon is needed.

Each person in the United States is responsible for about 40,000 pounds of global warming pollution each year,

Another misconception Lovitz said many believe is that taking steps to develop cleaner fuels and cutting emissions is too expensive, that people have to choose between the economy and the environment.

“Taking action now is the best. It would cost 1 percent, or $300 billion, the equivalent of what has been spent in Iraq, to reduce emissions. If we do nothing, it will cost 5 to 20 percent of the global economy,” she said.