Paco Dennis
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- Mid-Missouri
"Parts of Texas, Arkansas, Ohio and Maryland, along with New York, are all recording their earliest spring conditions on record
Cherry blossoms in Washington DC have started to bud, and could break a three-decade record for early blossoming.
Blooming daffodils in New York City. Leaves sprouting from red maples in North Carolina. Cherry blossoms about to bud in Washington. Record winter warmth across much of the eastern US has caused spring-like conditions to arrive earlier than ever previously recorded in several places, provoking delight over the mild weather and despair over the unfolding climate crisis.
In New York, one of several US cities to experience its warmest January on record, spring conditions have arrived 32 days before the long-term normal, which is its earliest onset of biological spring in 40 years of charting seasonal trends by the National Phenology Network.
Spring activity has, meanwhile, arrived at least 20 days earlier than usual for huge swathes of the US south-east and east, with parts of central Texas, south-east Arkansas, southern Ohio and Maryland, along with New York, all recording their earliest spring conditions on record so far this year.
...
This situation poses a threat to the food system, which is reliant upon insect pollination, and gives an edge to certain invasive species of plant that thrive in the warmer conditions, according to Dr Deborah Landau, director of ecological management at the Nature Conservancy.
“I’m seeing the trends I rely upon, the calendar I have trusted to see rare plants in bloom, just completely disappear,” said Landau, who has been charting plant and animal behavior for the past 22 years. “Everything has been thrown out of whack, species that have evolved together for millennia are now off-kilter. There is this cascading effect on everything that is more than just a missed cherry blossom season.”
Landau said that people will start to see the true costs of early springs through higher prices for certain pollinator-dependent foods and the spread of tick-borne diseases, even if the consequences of this are still not apparent to most.
“I’m seeing things green up and bud early and the weather reports just say ‘lucky you, what another lovely warm day,’” she said. “I just groan because I know the pollinators won’t have anything to eat. It’s frustrating.”"
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...-climate-change-record?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Cherry blossoms in Washington DC have started to bud, and could break a three-decade record for early blossoming.
Blooming daffodils in New York City. Leaves sprouting from red maples in North Carolina. Cherry blossoms about to bud in Washington. Record winter warmth across much of the eastern US has caused spring-like conditions to arrive earlier than ever previously recorded in several places, provoking delight over the mild weather and despair over the unfolding climate crisis.
In New York, one of several US cities to experience its warmest January on record, spring conditions have arrived 32 days before the long-term normal, which is its earliest onset of biological spring in 40 years of charting seasonal trends by the National Phenology Network.
Spring activity has, meanwhile, arrived at least 20 days earlier than usual for huge swathes of the US south-east and east, with parts of central Texas, south-east Arkansas, southern Ohio and Maryland, along with New York, all recording their earliest spring conditions on record so far this year.
...
This situation poses a threat to the food system, which is reliant upon insect pollination, and gives an edge to certain invasive species of plant that thrive in the warmer conditions, according to Dr Deborah Landau, director of ecological management at the Nature Conservancy.
“I’m seeing the trends I rely upon, the calendar I have trusted to see rare plants in bloom, just completely disappear,” said Landau, who has been charting plant and animal behavior for the past 22 years. “Everything has been thrown out of whack, species that have evolved together for millennia are now off-kilter. There is this cascading effect on everything that is more than just a missed cherry blossom season.”
Landau said that people will start to see the true costs of early springs through higher prices for certain pollinator-dependent foods and the spread of tick-borne diseases, even if the consequences of this are still not apparent to most.
“I’m seeing things green up and bud early and the weather reports just say ‘lucky you, what another lovely warm day,’” she said. “I just groan because I know the pollinators won’t have anything to eat. It’s frustrating.”"
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...-climate-change-record?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
