National Geographic Society
P.O. Box 98199
Washington, DC 20090-8199
800-647-5463
Lat/Lon: 38.90531943278526, -77.0376992225647
Inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888
RSS Syndication
“I love those first little green leaves,” says octogenarian Jean Combes of England’s oaks in spring. Since age 11 she’s jotted down signs of winter’s end. Too bad her girlish script shamed her and she tossed her first decade of notes. Such data are vital to phenology, the study of the timing of nature’s cycles. The science is gaining visibility as climate change blurs seasonal lines.
Phenological data go back to at least A.D. 705, when Kyoto royals kept cherry-blossom records. In 18th-century Europe “it began as a gentleman’s pursuit, one of vicars and spinsters,” says British environmental scientist Tim Sparks. Now anyone can sign up to contribute to one of numerous online databases worldwide. Combes takes daily walks to report first tree leafings to Nature’s Calendar, a database out of the United Kingdom whose thousands of volunteers report on spring firsts (and fall lasts), from frog eggs to bird chirps to lawn mowings. Comparing old data with new shows the impact of rising temperatures, later frost dates, and more sunshine. As Sparks notes, “It’s getting harder to answer the question: When does spring arrive?”
—Jennifer S. Holland
Photo: Albert G. Richards, National Geographic Stock. Graph source: John Clarke, Courtesy Nature's Calendar, U.K.
Subscribe to RSS feed
My Shot
Daily Dozen
Voting Machine
Puzzles
Desktop Wallpaper
Buy NG Photos
Special Issues
Comments
Apr 2, 2009 1PM #
Taking the Pulse of our Planet
Thomas Jefferson did it. Henry David Thoreau did it. So did Aldo Leopold. Following in the footsteps of these great American citizens, thousands of other “citizen scientists” across the United States are also tracking and recording the first signs of spring, from emergence of crocus and daffodils and cherry blossoms, to the arrival of the first robin or golden plover, to the first sighting of the ever-elusive ground-hog. Although formal and informal data records from the United States are not as extensive as those from Europe and Asia, this ‘Budding Pursuit’ is taking hold across our nation as well. Citizen science programs, wherein the public teams up with scientists to track the phenology of plants and animals, are on the front line of an emerging trend in science: with some training, the public can help scientists track the impacts of climate change in their back yard. Opportunities to get involved, and help “take the pulse of our planet” in a time of global change, include the USA National Phenology Network, Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s programs such as ebird, and butterfly tracking programs such as Journey North and Monarch Watch. Such efforts will help answer the perennial question, “When does spring arrive?,” especially when evidence from the US and around the world indicates that spring is coming earlier than ever, thanks in part to global warming.
Post a Comment