USA By Region Climate Change Assessment
The US government, with researchers in NOAA, have put together a handy website that shows by region, current and ongoing impacts of climate change in a national climate change assessment.
Here is the website. Many of us in the gardening world have already seen these changes occurring. Some plants suffer, especially native species, while other's are thriving.
The overall theme of their findings is that water will be in short supply, especially in the southern regions, but also during the summer months in northern regions as the snow pack melts earlier. Industries with fishing will be hurt as oceans continue to warm up and sea levels rise. Storms, big storms, when we have them and ongoing droughts.
As a gardener, I think about how I can continue to improve my water conservation. I see my green lawns as a watering waste and I wonder how I can try to better grow more native plants.
I think about the beautiful pine forests in Eastern Oregon, I recently enjoyed. I remember seeing dot's of brown trees more frequently, which means invasive bugs. I wonder what those forests will look like in 20 years.
Have you seen some of these results already where you live? If you live in another country, has your government produced a similar website to show current and future changes? How do you feel when you read material like this?
Cheers, Jenni
Here is the website. Many of us in the gardening world have already seen these changes occurring. Some plants suffer, especially native species, while other's are thriving.
The overall theme of their findings is that water will be in short supply, especially in the southern regions, but also during the summer months in northern regions as the snow pack melts earlier. Industries with fishing will be hurt as oceans continue to warm up and sea levels rise. Storms, big storms, when we have them and ongoing droughts.
As a gardener, I think about how I can continue to improve my water conservation. I see my green lawns as a watering waste and I wonder how I can try to better grow more native plants.
I think about the beautiful pine forests in Eastern Oregon, I recently enjoyed. I remember seeing dot's of brown trees more frequently, which means invasive bugs. I wonder what those forests will look like in 20 years.
Have you seen some of these results already where you live? If you live in another country, has your government produced a similar website to show current and future changes? How do you feel when you read material like this?
Cheers, Jenni
That is interesting. It seems like here we've been getting more rain. Too bad there's not a better way to collect it and use it in places that are getting less.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that will be a new-wave future technology ~
DeleteI feel bemused as firstly we are told that we will suffer droughts and must grow drought tolerant plants. Then we are told that we will experience more flooding and will need to grow plants that like boggy conditions. We are told it will warm up so that we will have similar temperatures to the Mediterranean and then that we will move towards a mini Ice age.
ReplyDeleteI guess the bottom line is that there are many reasons that climates change and not all of them are in our control or of our making. Climates do change all the time for instance the Earth changes position/tilt slightly.
Maybe no-one really knows what will happen to our climate in the future and we will just have to wait and see.
It makes me a little nervous to think about what our weather holds for us in the future...I love our mild climate so much...if I wanted extreme weather, I'd have stayed in the Midwest ;-)
ReplyDeleteI prefer to use the words, "climate trend" rather than "climate change." I think what we're seeing is a trend. A cycle of varying weather patterns that have been undulating since the world began. We've only being measuring and collecting data for the last 100 years, so there is much that we don't know. Whether humans are at fault, I couldn't say. I believe we should all be good stewards of the earth but I don't think being alarmed and spreading doomsday propaganda (think Al Gore) is helpful at all. I love weather statistics so a site like this is really interesting. Thank you for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteWhatever or whoever caused it, it's undeniable. The weather patterns we have experienced over the last few years have been very different. I am unsure sometimes whether the concept of four seasons in a year is still valid. The rainfall and temperature changes we have seen mean that "Winter" and "Summer" are much more like each other than I remember.
ReplyDeleteI think gardeners could help a lot by moving away from water-thirsty lawns towards more resilient plants (or replacing grass with shingle like I have done, if the space involved is small.
We also ought to have more government regulations on how houses are built, with due consideration given to water-collection and flood defences.
I couldn't agree more Mark. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we seem to losing summer, as it continues to shorten. Winters are also become milder. I've been considering how I can maximize what vegetables I grow, year round. I like your idea about building homes with water catchment systems.
DeleteOI whole haltingly agree with Mark on the Winter Summer suggestion. I do pray it's not true but only time will terll. Best.
ReplyDeleteI have been watching the weather change since I moved to the PNW, it is interesting in the 9 years we've been here how much it has changed. It has changed how I garden and I am learning to adapt to cooler summer gardening although I won't say I am loving it.
ReplyDeleteIt can be worrisome to think how it may impact us all considering how much they are talking drought on the news.