(ORDO NEWS) — According to a new study from Ohio State University, USA, spring in the Northern Hemisphere by 2100 may come 10 days earlier. Today it is considered that the warm season begins on March 20.
The reduction in the total number of rainy days is causing plants in northern climates to bloom earlier, the researchers say . The new work shows that at current rainfall levels, leaves will appear 1-2 days earlier every decade.
While previous studies have focused on how rising temperatures due to climate change will affect the start of spring, this is one of the first studies to focus on precipitation.
Desheng Liu, author of the study, said: “Scientists have mainly studied how temperature affects when the first leaves appear, and if they were looking at precipitation, it was their total amount. But what matters is not the total amount of precipitation, but how often it rains.”
In their study, the team analyzed data from the US, Europe and China, including dates for each year when leaves first appeared and the number of rainy days in each month from 1982 to 2018. The scientists also studied satellite imagery from this time period to understand when regions start to turn green.
The analysis showed that as the number of rainy days decreased over the years, spring came earlier in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Based on their findings, the researchers calculated that further reductions in rainfall would mean spring would arrive as much as 10 days earlier by 2100.
Alas, if spring really starts earlier, it may have an impact on the animal world. Plants, insects, birds, and other wild animals have evolved in such a way that their stages of development are synchronized.
A certain plant blooms, attracting a certain kind of insect that is of interest to a certain kind of bird, and so on. Early flowering will affect the animals and their biology.
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