News

Those warmer Spring temps you’re feeling? It’s Climate Change.

It’s not just you. Warmer temps mean nature gets thrown off in various ways.

Enjoy the heat wave this week?

Spring temperatures are increasing, yet another signal that Climate Change is here. Philly’s Spring temperatures increased 2.7 degrees over the past 30 years.

Photo: Climate Central

It’s not just the weather that is affected by these increased temperatures: Warmer seasons encroaching on winter have implications. Earlier Spring temperatures can lengthen the growing season, which means your allergies are worse: pollen allergy season starts earlier and last longer.

It also means more pests, especially ticks. They become active earlier in the year and spread to areas that were considered “too cold” before. The increasing prevalence of Lyme disease, which has doubled since 1991, is even considered an indicator of climate change by the EPA.

Warmer Temps = Less fruit

Another implication of earlier Spring temps? Fruit trees. Fruit trees, like apple, blueberry and peach, need a dormant period over the winter to produce the fruit the following Spring and Summer. For example, apple trees need 800 -1100 hours of “chilling” at 45 degrees F, so they can wake up from dormancy and bud after a certain amount of warming.

With shorter winters and earlier springs, there’s less yield, shifting favorable locations for the trees and an effect on economies.

Julie Hancher

Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake.

Recent Posts

Moving Fast and Breaking Climate goals: What Pennsylvania’s Data Center boom means for local communities

$90 billion in investments could reshape the energy landscape, but community voices and renewable alternatives…

12 hours ago

Trash competition, government shutdown, November elections, & more

Catch up on the latest sustainability news:  Block by Block launches citywide cleanup competition with…

19 hours ago

From coal to solar affordability: PA’s next energy chapter shaped by HB 504

Farmers and city residents alike stand to benefit from local, homegrown power, says Land &…

2 days ago

Celebrating Solar at “Sun Day,” trash burning ban proposed & more

Catch up on the latest sustainability news:  Philly mobilizes for Sun Day solar energy celebration.…

1 week ago

You can be exposed to PFAS through food, water, even swimming in lakes – new maps show how risk from ‘forever chemicals’ varies

Drinking water isn’t the only way people are exposed to PFAS today. This article is…

1 week ago

Building connections: How Ash Richards uses land care as cultural preservation

The city’s Director of Urban Agriculture talks about the impact of history, gardening as collective…

1 week ago