Vermont's maple syrup makers are seeing a change in their industry, as warmer winters and shorter seasons reduce the sap produced by their trees.

Tom Vogelmann, chairman of the plant biology department at the University of Vermont, told the New York Times that tapping technology can help sugar makers keep up syrup production for a while, but eventually it won't be worth it.

"It's within, well, probably my lifetime that you'll see this happen," Vogelmann told The Times. "How can you have the state of Vermont and not have maple syrup?"

Tim Perkins, director of the Proctor Maple Research Center at the University of Vermont, told The Times that global warming has created a "dire situation" for the maple industry.

A study of 40 sugaring seasons shows the seasons starting earlier and getting shorter, The Times said.

"We had this long list of factors we started with that could possibly explain it," Perkins told The Times. "We have eliminated all of those various factors. We are at this point convinced that it is climatic influence."