Will climate change change the color of autumn?

In the coming years, autumn may be different. The reason is that climate change has changed the time and process of changing the color of leaves.

Will the color of autumn change because of climate change?

If you live in the East or Midwestern United States, the change of leaves in autumn seems to be a constant phenomenon. People have become accustomed to the sight of leaves sprinkled with red, purple, orange, yellow leaves on their wings when leaves come near the end of their life cycle, and lose chlorophyll, a substance The chemical attracts the sun to help the leaf retain its blue color. This natural life cycle has brought a colorful party in the fall before our eyes.

But recent research shows that in the coming years, autumn may be different. The reason is that climate change has changed the time and process of changing the color of leaves . Perhaps, the color of autumn and the density will no longer be the same as it is now. However, this change may vary by region and type of tree.

As explained by Howard Neufeld, professor of plant ecology at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, autumn is being affected by many different factors.

"One thing we found is that plants do not always respond to environmental factors in the same way ," Neufeld said. "Some plants are more dependent on temperature, others depend on the number of hours of light during the day. Increasing levels of carbon dioxide can affect when the trees are deciduous, but they react very well. And if climate change changes the weather, we will have less or more rain, less or more droughts.

Although we may not realize it, humans have changed the fall color , when changing the trees in the forest. In the early 1990s, the eastern forests were richer in yellow color, as they mainly cultivated American chestnut trees. But then, the import of plants from Europe made the chestnut tree blight, a disease that caused a series of American chestnut trees to die. Today, common trees are only about 3 - 4.5 meters high and have been attacked by diseases.

Climate change can change the composition of forests even more , because temperature sensitive plants can gradually move north or higher lands. "Some of the plants that live in the northeast, like the maple tree are very beautiful colors, may move to Canada , " Neufeld said. Anise and pecan trees will replace maple trees, they have less vivid colors.

In addition, some studies also say that climate change can prolong the growing season and repel the change of leaves and autumn . The 2011 study of satellite data discovered by Korean researchers shows that the start of autumn has been back for more than 9 days.

Another study guessed that this trend could continue. A study in 2013 about the leaves of eight different New England forest species from 1993 to 2010, predicted that autumn leaf changes could be delayed by up to 2 weeks. Researchers also found that future forests could have more colorful leaves than they do today.

"Our results show that there is an annual change, in terms of time and color of autumn, at least some of these changes may be associated with temperature and precipitation in the previous months , " Andrew Richardson, one of the study authors and an assistant professor of biology at Harvard University. "Likewise, predictions of climate change may increase or decrease" density "in autumn colors that I think are very interesting."

The time of leaf and autumn discoloration can also be strongly influenced by extreme weather caused by climate change , according to the University of Connecticut study. They found that while the northern New England region may experience a later change in leaves, the southern coastal areas will receive the fall earlier.

This transformation of plants can have an unexpectedly strong impact on the economy, as it will affect the tourism industry in areas with colorful autumns.

"In the eastern states, tourism is worth $ 25-30 billion," Neufeld explained. "Autumn is when you can integrate with nature - it's not too hot and not too cold, and you can watch and enjoy many beautiful colors. It's time. beautiful of the year, and i don't think people think climate change can do that. "