A study warns: Spring will start early in the coming years... What are the reasons and what are the risks?

Weather of Arabia - The world is accustomed to the fact that spring begins in the northern hemisphere on the vernal equinox on March 20, but a recent study warned that the date of the beginning of spring may advance by several days in the coming years, what are the reasons? What do we mean by the beginning of spring?

Rain breaks cause spring to start early

Researchers from Ohio State University conducted a study on the effect of changing precipitation levels in the climates of countries located in the northern hemisphere on the flowering and leaves of plants with the onset of spring.

The study found that a decrease in the total number of rainy days causes plants to bloom earlier. The study indicates that with current levels of rain, the date for leaf germination will advance by a day or two from the normal date every decade.

What distinguishes this study is that it is the first to focus on the effect of changing precipitation, while previous research has focused on how rising temperatures due to climate change affect the onset of spring.

Desheng Liu, co-author of the study, said: 'Scientists have mainly looked at how temperature affects the onset of leaves on trees in early spring, and their research included total rainfall, but what really matters is how often the rain falls and not The total amount of precipitation.

In this study, the team analyzed a set of data from the United States, Europe, and China. The data included the dates when spring leaves began to appear each year, and the number of rainy days each month.

They also studied satellite images from 1982 to 2018, which were recorded when vegetation began to turn green.

Their analysis revealed that with fewer rainy days over the years, spring came earlier for most regions in the northern hemisphere.

Based on their findings, the researchers estimated that a decrease in future precipitation would mean spring would begin 10 days earlier by the year 2100.

How could less rainy days start spring early?

According to researchers, there are two main reasons behind early spring buds with fewer rainy days:

1. Rainy days are associated with cloudy weather, which means less sunlight reaches the surface of the earth and plants, so fewer rains or less rain early at the end of winter means that trees and plants receive more solar radiation earlier in the year. , Which stimulates the growth of leaves .
2. On non-rainy days, the presence of clouds decreases , and thus increases the heating of the sun’s light on the earth and the atmosphere, so the earth’s temperature rises during the day, but it cools during the night more quickly without the presence of cloud cover to trap heat, this contradictory effect makes plants think that it is spring time, and the leaf begins to appear earlier than usual.

What are the risks of starting spring early?

While some may welcome the onset of spring early, it is a phenomenon that carries with it many risks and chain effects on birds, insects and entire ecosystems, and this will have a significant impact on the “performance and productivity” of nature and agriculture, and not all plants and animals can adapt at the same rate. .

With the onset of early spring the plants will flower very early, when later frosts can kill them affecting crops, agricultural production and food security.

DailyMail