A new study suggests Northern Hemisphere summers will get longer, perhaps as much as 6 months, and winters shorter due to greenhouse gasses.
The study, published in the Geophysical Research and Letters, uses climate data going back from 1952 to 2011, charting the beginning and ending of seasons in the north based on temperatures.
In that time, the study found the average summer increased from 78 days to 95, while the spring, fall, and winter months all shrunk from 3 to 9 days. At that rate of increase, summers in the north might last 6 months by 2100.
“This is the biological clock for every living thing,” study author Yuping Guan told NBC News. “People argue about temperature rise of 2 degrees or 3 degrees, but global warming changing the seasons is something everyone can understand.”
The seasonal evolution also impacts plants, trees, and bird migration pattern changes over time due to temperatures, while extending to agricultural production and human health issues.
Humans will be impacted by high pollen volumes for longer stretches and mosquito populations will move further north and stick around for extended periods, perhaps spreading viruses like malaria to new environments.
“Under the business‐as‐usual scenario, spring and summer will start about a month earlier than 2011 by the end of the century, autumn and winter start about half a month later, which result in nearly half a year of summer and less than 2 months of winter in 2100,” the authors wrote.
“As lengths of the four seasons change continue, which can trigger a chain of reactions, policy‐making for agricultural management, healthcare, and disaster prevention requires adjustment.”
Source: Newmax
