Global warming may initially make the grass greener, but not for long, according to new research results.
The findings, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, show that plants may thrive in the early stages of a warming environment but then begin to deteriorate quickly.
“We were really surprised by the pattern, where the initial boost in growth just went away,” said scientist Zhuoting Wu of Northern Arizona University (NAU), a lead author of the study. “As ecosystems adjusted, the responses changed.”
Ecologists subjected four grassland ecosystems to simulated climate change during a decade-long study.
Plants grew more the first year in the global warming treatment, but this effect progressively diminished over the next nine years and finally disappeared.
The research shows the long-term effects of global warming on plant growth, on the plant species that make up a community, and on changes in how plants use or retain essential resources like nitrogen.
“The plants and animals around us repeatedly serve up surprises,” said Saran Twombly, program director in the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research.
“These results show that we miss these surprises because we don’t study natural communities over the right time scales. For plant communities in Arizona, it took researchers 10 years to find that responses of native plant communities to warmer temperatures were the opposite of those predicted.”
A hard freeze has wiped out a big portion of the cherry crop in Northwest Michigan this spring. The area produces more than half the state’s cherries that end up in desserts, juice and as dried fruit.
An historic early warm-up in March left fruit trees vulnerable to frost once the weather turned cooler again.
Temperatures broke records for the month of March across the Great Lakes region.Climate researchers say there’s never been anything like it going back more than a hundred years.”We’re seeing history made before our eyes at least in terms of climatology.”
Jeff Andresen is the state’s climatologist and professor of geography at Michigan State. “And in some ways if we look at where our vegetation is and how advanced it is, it’s probably a month ahead of where it typically is.”
Andresen is careful to point out that this year’s early warm-up is an extreme weather event.
He says it far outpaces the previous warmest March on record in 1945. He can’t say it’s a direct result of climate change. But it fits the predicted long term pattern of change that includes extreme fluctuations.
During one period, there were several straight days of above 80 degree daytime highs and nighttime temperatures in the 60’s.
Philippe Coquard could use some sleep. He’s the co-owner of the Wollersheim Winery in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. And he’s been up two nights in a row. He blames it on the weather.
PHILLIPPE COQUARD: The month of March was like summer, which we never see that in Wisconsin. And everybody is so happy and it feels like summer. Well, it’s not good to us.
CORNISH: That’s because Coquard’s 27 acres of grapevines budded a month ahead of schedule. And now there’s frost. Coquard and other vineyard and orchard owners in southern Wisconsin are trying to protect those fragile buds. Some build bonfires, some use large tarps. Coquard says his work starts at 1:30 in the morning.
COQUARD: So, soon as the temperature will hit 35 degree Fahrenheit at two feet off the ground, then it triggers an alarm – it calls me in my house. Then I will come to the winery and start our protection equipment.
CORNISH: There are three wind machines positioned at the lowest and therefore coldest part of the vineyards. They keep the cold air moving so the vines don’t freeze. Then there’s the fire dragon. It’s pulled by a tractor.
COQUARD: You start the fire and there’s a big fan that will draw warm air and shoots it right and left. And you will cover almost 60 or 70 feet on each side of that device.
CORNISH: Hot in the rear but still cold at the wheel. Coquard and his assistance take turns driving the dragon all around the vineyard until morning. So far, there’s minimal damage to his vines. But there could be more cold next week. As for now…
COQUARD: I’m due to go take a nap and…
(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)
Interesting stuff. You could call it a form of “agracultural progeria”. @Peter: Once again, from the “small world department”….I went to college with Jeff Andresen. I lost touch with him after school, and just looked up his cv. Way cool!!
I’ll see your 10 your study,
http://face.env.duke.edu/PDF/es187-06.pdf
(additional 200 ppm CO2 -> “throughout the experiment, the canopy loblolly pine have shown a 40–50% increase in photosynthesis”)
and raise you a 12 year study:
http://ns.umich.edu/new/releases/8614
(570ppm CO2 -> 26% growth increase)
Nobody discounts the studies that use greenhouse conditions to measure growth effects. The concern lies in the other effects that are present in some species in real-world conditions. A change in climate that is too rapid for many species to adapt or move is quite problematic. Furthermore, the increased chances of extreme events that stress a population can be of concern.
I have read that the pace of climate change could easily outpace the northern boreal forest’s capability to march northward as global temperature continues to increase. I have also read (in the book 6 Degrees) that a 1 degree Celsius temperature global temp rise may be enough to tip the Great Plains prairies of the USA into a desert. The Amazon rainforest could potentially turn into a savanna climate. There is a paper that indicates there is a strong relationship between sea surface temperatures in the Caribbean and drought in the Amazon.
So, the situation is more complicated than CO2 = plant food. Adding a lot of extra fertilizer to your garden during the winter in Canada still doesn’t produce any food, for example. We don’t discount the evidence from the studies that show a growth effect for CO2 under controlled conditions, but we don’t discount the evidence for climate shifts either.
Different plants are going to respond differently. However, plants generally need nitrogen and unless we have a lot more thunder storms nitrogen and soil minerals will become limiting reagents.
I’ve been having this argument with Tim Curtin. He doesn’t seem to understand CO2 and its role in plant development. So many people have been fed the same line by people like Curtin.
Us plant scientists have known this for quite a while, but having the real world crop growth measures to show everyone is really handy.
CO2 is a poison.
GMO corn should be planeted all over the world to save us for sure.
To AGW brainwashed fools:
Bye Bye: Ya See… the world is flat!!!
http://www.real-science.com/nsidc-part-2
P.S. they just released a 6 foot statue of al gore’s load to worship everymorning…
yeah…I know!!! Awesome!!!!
Go Global Warming!!!!
Aren’t we just so smart and sooooo smug!!!!
Kony 2012!!!!!
We welcome new trolls here. Just try to keep it clean, ok?
The notorious liar, alias “Steven Goddard”. Oh dear. This guy is worse than A. Watts. “Real Science” my butt. He’s constantly bringing up faked graphs. And when you debunk him the page disappears. Waste of time.
Genetic engineering: The world’s greatest scam?
=> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H9WZGKQeYg
Hey Green Man (really, I’m sure your a good person, I really mean it):
I don’t even need even 1st grade science to tell you : The earth gets cold, the earth gets warm.
Ya see, young man: 1000+ feet of ice melted off the face of north america (probably 10 times over) and there wasn’t one SUV or coal burning plant in site.It’s called NATURE.Come back when you’ve completed Anthropology 101.
Does that confuse you, I’m sure it does. Try getting your facts together, and throw out your religion when it comes to science, even though I truly respect your right to religion. Face it:IT’s OVER!!
Global Warming is dead from any angle in terms of the USA surviving this crisis we are in. Polar bears: Fine and thriving. Oceans rise 20 feet? uhhh no. End of winter? uh no. On and On. NOW….. We have many problems of poison in our water supply, nuclear fallout of Fukishima, Chernobyl, God only knows what waste our government hasn’t told us about yet, not to mention every other month we find out what industry has been hiding in our water, land and air with the government’s FULL approval. Tell-me: Why is USA health 30-something in the whole world?
Worry about a possible (only possible, and no proof we caused it) 1 or 2 degree temp change in 200 + years, and it is like you are watching your fish tank leak, while a tidal wave is curling over the top of your head from behind. We have 1000 other problems to address first, and you want us to pay MORE taxes to offset our CO2, which is NOT a poison????? Meanwhile the same industry setting up this fake tax collection, allows India China, etc. to pollute the world AT WILL? While taking our jobs overseas to slave traps these polluting countries are???? The fact that our fake politicians demo or replublo won’t even touch global warming with a million foot pole is evidence enough. WAKE UP!!!
People like me: American Patriot Constitution Loving Countrymen who have had enough of our country being raped by “do-gooders” who do the most evil themselves while trying to make a buck off of destroying our future with fractional truths and money grabbing politics, will NEVER stop fighting for truth, justice, and the American way of life made by our founding fathers in the Constitution for which we all stand.
Want a better eco-future? Fight against poison, nuclear BS, stop our wars with 3rd world countries, support alternative energy research, all this can be done without shooting your foot off to walk the trek of a better tomorrow. AGW ( big fat IF it exists) is not even on the radar.
….
Any more crap? Or is it over now?
=> http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/files/2012/05/photo.jpg
How does that cause the poising of the earth’s water supply salt and fresh from Big Oil pollution (which AGW is fulled supported by, point your finger at CO2 which is a necessary gas to support life on our planet, while ignoring the fumes by big oil (do you think they will pay any fines or taxes? no you and I will for no reason))
IT DOESN’T
How does this cause the destruction of 100,000’s of acres of land from nuclear disasters like chernobyl and fukushima along with the destruction of the food supply and millions of future deaths and birth defects?
IT DOESN’T.
How does this explain the mass production of Coal plants in China (yeah, believe it or NOT, we breath the same air)
IT DOESN’T
How does this explain the 3rd world status change-to of the USA by eliminating our manufacturing base since it costs too much to start a company due to ridiculous tax slamming by our government for AGW which is STILL unproven.
IT DOESN’T
CRAP is truth to a person who won’t debate the facts.
Polar bears di not drown.
the sea never rose 20 feet.
Al Gore still flies around in a lear jet telling us all not to take a hot bath.
The truth my friend is NEVER over.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/coldest-may-in-50-years-20120529-1zgcr.html
is english your native language?
It’s very sad,
You all are just like Obama supporters. Ya see, they ACTUALLY believed that they were going to get a house and a car for free from Odumbya. You sad sad people, who never had any girlfriends or boy friends? in high school thought, HEY this Finally OUR time! Just like O-Bomb-Ya supporters, you ACTUALLY thought you were finally going to be “cool”. You were going to get this Sky high Window office in a skyscraper next to your God Al Gore, you were going to be the new Nazi’s, you know, walking down the street to hit people like me over the head with a club when I was having my coal grill running cooking a steak, and fining me, and goose stepping away in your Nazi Green Uniforms giving your selves pats on the backs, with everyone watching you. You poor, poor, things, so utterly ignored in your child lifes. Gosh, Al Gore promised you were gonna BE SOMEBODY!!! Oh gosh gee golly dang nap it. I hope your therapy goes fine when you realize like the rest of the world, that AGW is just Santa Clause, Big foot, Lochness, Weapons of Mass Destruction, etc.
Try to get yourselves together, STOP supporting Big Oil, and start studying REAL problems like Nuclear Waste, Fukashima, Chernobyl, poising water supplies from Big Oil (unless you are too far paid off, we’ll find out soon enough), and realize that you are not getting any high paid jobs, the money is gone, you won’t work in a sky scraper, you aren’t getting a free house and a free car.
In other words, grow up, and join the rest of the adult world that has moved past the “flat earth, sun goes around the earth, CO2 is a poison and we can’t explain why 1000 feet of glaciers melted without 1 single SUV or Coal plant or person breathing, or cow farting or,(gee did I miss any of your B.S.??? too much to tell, that’s for sure)”, and Al Gore needs to fly around in a jet and keep us from taking a bath, etc. etc. etc.
If ANY of you reading this are scientists, try acting like some, step back and look at the BIG PICTURE, for once!
I’ll allow this because you make yet another good exhibit for my case.
Keep it clean.