Warming climate means more problems for Iowa crops, trees, plants … people - WHO TV 13 Des Moines News & Weather
Warming climate means more problems for Iowa crops, trees, plants … people | who13.com
IOWA — This is the weirdest winter we can remember. And that’s no anecdote — that’s science.
“This is the earliest I’ve seen it be this warm,” says Jeff Goerndt of the Iowa DNR.
Even the scientists are saying it. And feeling it. And pointing it out.
“Normally trees are still dormant this time of year,” Goerndt says, “but we’re seeing early bud swelling on trees here looking like they’re getting ready to bloom about a month early.”
In the world of plants, this is not a good forecast. Not in mid-March. Not after all the warm days we’ve already had.
“If we continue to have these really nice 50s and 60s during the day … we’ll start to see things like flower buds develop,” says Aaron Steil of the Iowa State Extension, “and the more developed those flower buds are the more likely we’ll see damage if we drop below freezing temperatures.”
By the Iowa State Extension’s map, that’s probably going to happen. Our last frost typically hits between early April and mid-May. For flower lovers, this is bad news. For others, it’s even worse.
“We could potentially lose the fruit crop for the year,” Goerndt says.
If fruit blossoms freeze, there’ll be no fruit this year. For other trees, there’ll be other problems.
“The insects that carry the oak wilt disease — we think they’re already out.” Goerndt shrugs. “And so we’re telling people it’s time to stop pruning and putting wounds on those trees because that disease can spread now.”
Bug season will start earlier and last longer.
And don’t forget we’re also dealing with a drought.
“We’re into the 18th, 19th month of drought now, “ Goerndt adds, “and with no relief really in sight in the forecast.”
This is hardly our first spring rodeo. The cold and rain could return and save the day, funny as that sounds.
“We do have concerns about it,” Steil says, “but there’s not much we can do about it — we just kind of have to wait and see and hope.”
Hope for things we don’t really want.
Sounds like one more weird thing in the weirdest winter of all.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate science
What began as a theory in the 1890s — that industrial emissions of carbon dioxide could increase global temperatures — had progressed to a scientific fact a century later. Scientists across a range of disciplines are studying the impact of the still-growing concentration of carbon dioxide and other so-called “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere as they call for industrial and governmental policies to slow, then halt, the warming of the planet.