“1.1 degrees C above 1850 - 1900” Because in 1872 George Perkins Marsh said temperatures were rising and the climate was changing due to the clear cutting of forests for post Civil War reconstruction. At this rate, he said, there would be insufficient groundwater for the Erie Canal to transport goods and New York’s burgeoning economy would collapse. Nearly 10,000 miles of Adirondacks forests were purchased and protected. And the Erie Canal was saved.