Is a pancake still a pancake without maple syrup? Due to global warming (thanks again), increased temperatures are causing a shorter sapping season and less sap overall for maple trees. Average temperatures in New England, where a high volume of maple syrup is produced, have gone up by two to four degrees over the last 100 years, and if they go up another six degrees maple syrup, will be just a long lost memory (sort of like that huge stack of pancakes you devoured for breakfast).