The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently released the latest version of the U.S. Climate Normals report. Average temperatures in every state rose an average of one-half degree Fahrenheit over the past 30 years, but the changes are not uniform, according to the report.
“The climate of the 2000s is about 1.5 degree F warmer than the 1970s, so we would expect the updated 30-year normals to be warmer,” said Thomas R. Karl, National Climatic Data Center director in a NOAA press release posted by PhysOrg.
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It’s not so much that midday heat is now more sweltering, but that nighttime chills have become less chilly. Daytime maximums have not increased as much as nighttime lows in the ten years since the last Climate Normals report, which covered 1971-1991. This report covers 1981-2010.
Some parts of the Great Plains, Mississippi Valley, and Northeast actually had cooler July average maximum temperatures. Missouri in particular had more comfortable July weather on average. But tell that to Missourians who just baked during June heat waves.
On the other hand, Januarys didn’t get as cold, especially in the Northern Plains and Midwest.
Sounds like a win-win, huh?
Not really, since warmer winters mean more pests and diseases on the farm. And what’s bad for your food supply is bad for you. Cold temperatures normally kill insects and their eggs, as well as reducing the numbers of bacteria and fungi that survive.
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“Longer periods of warm weather affect plants in many ways,” said Mac Franklin, the head gardener of the North Carolina Arboretum, in a NOAA press release. “It can mean less water in the soil,” he explains, “and then the rain we do get can’t seep into the ground as easily. Longer warm periods can lengthen the pest season and allow for more generations of pests.”
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For example, the pine bark beetle and the woolly adelgid bug may both benefit from warmer winters. The beetle is battering pines from Alaska to Colorado, while the adelgid harms hemlocks in the East.
Another example comes from the Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania where sugar maples have been dying of disease. Pennsylvania is at the southern tip of the tree’s natural range. Temperature changes may give the disease an advantage that could allow it to spread north.
“There is telling evidence that climate change is affecting plant life around the world and here at Longwood,” said Paul Redman, Longwood’s Director, in a NOAA press release. “Sharing the important work of NOAA with our staff, guests, and community is integral to our mission and continues Longwood Gardens’ commitment to environmental stewardship.”
NOAA’s Climate Normals report helps farmers and grounds managers understand how to care for their plants.
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“Public gardens have to balance costs, benefits, and risk,” said North Carolina Arboretum Director George Briggs in the NOAA press release.
“It’s a more complex decision matrix with these shifts. Will gardens have to beef up their sewer systems to account for heavier rain events? How much irrigation to put in? Where once you needed just enough to establish the landscape, now there may be a continuing need for water, or maybe you put in more conservative plants that are more water-efficient,” said Briggs.
It can also help the home gardener plan their landscaping and crop choices.
“If they are climate-literate they can put risk management into their decision making, make their design specifications more conservative,” said Briggs.
Gardeners often use planting zone maps to decide when, where and what to plant. But the Climate Normals report shows that these zones have shifted. The Zone Hardiness map, familiar from the backs of seed envelopes, will be getting and update soon using Climate Normals data.
To create the report, NOAA researchers looked at weather records from the National Weather Service and smaller organizations. More than 8,000 locations provided rainfall data. About 6000 locations provided temperature data.
From the millions of bits of information, NOAA scientists cobble together maps of the average weather conditions around the country and throughout the year.
“Our job is to take the data values as collected by the National Weather Service, apply robust quality control and standardization to improve the fidelity in our products, and use sophisticated statistical techniques that result in high-quality normals of temperature, precipitation, snowfall, and derived quantities such as heating and cooling degree days,” said Anthony Arguez, U.S. Climate Normals project manager in a NOAA press release.
The NOAA Climate Normals looks at a wide range of weather conditions, using methods established in the 1930’s by the World Meteorological Organization. The Climate Normals are used by everyone from farmers and gardeners to energy companies predicting when to expect peak loads.
IMAGE 1: Across much of the country, overnight low temperatures in January are as much as several degrees warmer in the 1981–2010 Normals than they were in the 1971-2000 version (left). Meanwhile, the average maximum temperatures in July are actually cooler across some parts of the country (right). (Courtesy: NOAA)
IMAGE 2: On a state-by-state basis, the annual average minimum (left) and maximum (right) temperatures across the United States are warmer in the 1981-2010 Climate Normals than in the 1971-2000 version. (Courtesy: NOAA)
IMAGE 3: Climate-related planting zones in the United States based on new U.S. Climate Normals (1981-2010); old Normals (1971-2000); and areas that have changed zones as a result of warmer winter minimum temperatures. (Courtesy: NOAA)
IMAGE 4: Chart of what is contained in the Climate Normals report. (Courtesy: NOAA)
Tags: Animal Behavior, Climate Change, Global Warming, Maps, Meteorology
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