Offshore wind farms are becoming part of America and the world's renewable energy landscape.

And now the Gulf of Maine is being considered a possible site for offshore wind development.

In this series of stories, you'll learn about this emerging technology and what it might mean for you, our coastal communities and the Gulf of Maine's natural environment.

In this story, part five of 11, we look at why renewable energy is being pursued.

Science tells us that the planet is warming.

A United Nations panel on climate change warns us that to address this challenge, the world needs a 60% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.

In response, federal and state governments are investing in private public partnerships to upgrade energy plants and increase renewable energy output.

Part of that effort might soon be found far offshore in the Gulf of Maine.

The reason that we're taking on the challenge of offshore wind in the first place is the challenge of climate change.

That's what this is based on.

We know we have to decarbonize our energy system, and that's part of a global move that's recognizing that the threat to national security, the economy to public safety from climate change.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the primary sources of global greenhouse gases are transportation, electric power and industry.

We need to replace our current generation, to achieve our current energy needs.

But the whole direction of technology in our economy is moving into a more energy intensive structure.

In order to get off fossil fuels we're electrifying buildings.

We're electrifying cars.

So we need the energy that we're generating for electricity is fundamental to everything else that we have to do.

And all those things solar, nuclear, onshore wind are all part of the puzzle.

Offshore wind is not a silver bullet.

Yeah.

I think it's important to always go back to why we're doing this very hard thing.

I mean, offshore wind is a very complex industry, and we wouldn't be tackling the challenges of building this industry in this country if we didn't have an agreement that we need to transition our energy economy, decarbonize it, and look to the future for a different way to be fueling our economy.

The effects of climate change in the Gulf of Maine are complex and not fully understood.

At the moment, the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than many other oceans around the globe.

And so that since so many aspects of the marine ecology and the Gulf of Maine ecosystem functions are derived with water temperature as the sea surface temperature increases.

That's going to change all of that.

And yes, I think we need to be careful that we're not rushing so we don't make mistakes in where we put offshore wind.

However, climate change is having currently noticeable and real world effects.

It is no longer a hypothetical or a theoretical exercise by climatologists.

It is something that we need to address sooner than later for the welfare of all of humanity and the species that we share this planet with.

The Winds of Change in the Gulf of Maine series is a co-production of New Hampshire PBS and New Hampshire Sea Grant, with support from the University of New Hampshire.

Production funding was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.