![]() and wet weather to the northern half, El Niño is associated with an increased risk of flooding in the South. While La Niña typically brings drier, warmer conditions to Georgia and the southern half of the U.S. NOAA forecasters say this spring is likely to feature “neutral” conditions, but added that La Niña’s opposite - El Niño - could develop as soon as this summer and continue through the end of the year. “With increasing average temperatures, we can expect that that we will reach those conditions associated with the start of spring progressively earlier in future years,” she said.Īfter three consecutive winters, La Niña - a phenomenon driven by temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that influences weather conditions across the globe - has finally ended, NOAA announced Thursday. ![]() According to the USAPN’s “First Leaf Index,” plants in Atlanta pushed their first leaves out about 10 days earlier than normal this year.Ĭrimmins, USAPN’s executive director, said that’s not unheard of for the city, but is in keeping with the long-term warming trend. Other metrics also indicate spring conditions arrived early in Atlanta this year. The winter months in Georgia are warming faster than other parts of the year, analysis shows. Temperatures last month were 9.6 degrees Fahrenheit above what was considered normal in the 20th century for the month of February. Georgia experienced its second-warmest February on record. Overall pollen production could also rise by nearly 30%, the same study found. If the planet continues to warm, pollen season could shift 20 days earlier and last 20 days longer by the end of this century, according to a study published last year in the scientific journal Nature Communications. Research has shown that Atlanta’s dreaded pollen season is beginning earlier and growing more intense due to climate change. In 2022, the city didn’t experience pollen concentrations that high until March 31. On March 7, the pollen count in Atlanta reached 3,937 grains per cubic meter of air. “And that’s not only me, but that’s everybody in the Southeast.” Early spring brings prolific pollenįebruary’s spring-like temperatures also sent huge amounts of pollen into the air much earlier than normal. “If we don’t have a frost, we’re gonna have one prolific crop,” he said. With the risk of a freeze still lingering for a few more weeks, Byne says he’ll be watching the weather closely. Unseasonable winter heat can trick plants to advance in development before the last frost. In the U.S., winters are warming faster than any other season due to climate change, according to analysis by the nonprofit organization Climate Central. His berries have been wiped out completely the last two years by freeze events, along with the crop on many other Georgia blueberry farms that are part of an industry worth an estimated $304 million in the state. In recent years, it’s a scenario that Byne has become all too familiar with. But with the flowers exposed, his crop is now at greater risk of damage if a spring freeze occurs. If all goes according to plan, he expects to have a crop by late May - a few weeks earlier than normal. “It looks like snow on the top of my bushes.”īyne estimates his plants are already seven to 10 days ahead of schedule and the blooms signal that fruit formation is imminent. “It just really looks very pretty,” he said. The effects of Georgia’s warm winter are obvious in the fields of Dick Byne’s 22-acre organic blueberry farm 30 miles south of Augusta, where rows of bushes are covered in delicate white flowers. “And with increasing average temperatures, we can expect that we will reach those conditions associated with spring progressively earlier in future years,” Heat puts blueberry crop at risk ![]() “As we continue to pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, temperatures are expected to continue to rise,” said Theresa Crimmins, a professor at the University of Arizona and the director of the USA National Phenology Network (USAPN), which tracks how plants and animals respond to changing seasons. also played a role, said Pam Knox, an agricultural climatologist at UGA.īut the warmth is also a tell-tale sign of human-caused climate change, which is driving average temperatures up in Georgia and across the globe. A persistent ridge of high pressure pushed temperatures up over the eastern half of the country, while a waning La Niña pattern - which typically brings hotter than normal conditions to the southern U.S. In Georgia, several factors contributed to the heat. More whipsaws between periods of extreme drought and heavy precipitation are expected as the climate changes, experts say. While Georgia and much of the East Coast experienced a warm winter, California and parts of the West were slammed by drenching rain and epic snow amid the region’s worst drought in 1,200 years.
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