A study by the University of Southampton suggests that on average the
end of Autumn is taking place later in the year and Spring is starting slightly
earlier. A team of researchers examined satellite imagery covering the northern
hemisphere over a 25-year period (1982 – 2006), and looked for any seasonal
changes in vegetation by making a measure of its ‘greenness’. They examined in
detail, at daily intervals, the growth cycle of the vegetation — identifying
physical changes such as leaf cover, color and growth.
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The project was led by University of Southampton Professor of
Geography Peter Atkinson, who worked with his colleague Dr. Jadunandan Dash and
in collaboration with Professor Jeganathan Chockalingam from the Department of
Remote Sensing at the Birla Institute of Technology in India.
Professor Atkinson says: “There is much speculation about whether
our seasons are changing and if so, whether this is linked to climate change.
Our study is another significant piece in the puzzle, which may ultimately
answer this question.”
The team was able to examine the data for specific vegetation types:
‘mosaic’ vegetation (grassland, shrub land, forest and cropland); broad-leaved
deciduous forest; needle-leaved evergreen forest; needle-leaved deciduous and
evergreen forest; mixed broad-leaved and needle-leaved forest; and
mixed-forest, shrub land and grassland. They analyzed data across all the
groups, recognizing that forests which have not changed size due to human
intervention, for example through forestry or farming, provide the most
reliable information on vegetation response to changes in our climate.
The most pronounced change found by the researchers was in the
broad-leaved deciduous and needle-leaved deciduous forest groups, showing that
Autumn is becoming significantly later. This delay in the signs of Autumn was
generally more pronounced than any evidence for an earlier onset of Spring,
although there is evidence across the groups that Spring is arriving slightly
earlier.
Professor Peter Atkinson comments: “Previous studies have
reported trends in the start of Spring and end of Autumn, but we have studied a
longer time period and controlled for forest loss and vegetation type, making
our study more rigorous and with a greater degree of accuracy.
“Our research shows that even when we control for land cover
changes across the globe a changing climate is significantly altering the
vegetation growth cycles for certain types of vegetation. Such changes may have
consequences for the sustainability of the plants themselves, as well as
species which depend on them, and ultimately the climate through changes to the
carbon cycle.”
Read more at the University
of Southampton.
Four Seasons image via Shutterstock. Morphed by Robin Blackstone.