Extreme Weather - Episode 7

There is no doubt that the chronic economic turmoil since 2008 has deflated interest in climate change. We want economic stability, and in a growing population economic stability means economic growth. And for the most part economic growth, still, means burning more fossil fuels. With this, the Durban meeting is welcomed with record high growth of carbon dioxide concentrations – we can say that we are ahead of the curve.

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Wintertime minimum temperatures in the U.S. have risen so much in recent decades that the USDA had to update their Plant Hardiness Zone Map for gardeners for the first time since 1990. Ann Arbor used to be in Zone 5, but is now solidly in the warmer Zone 6. This got me to wondering, what sort of plants in Zone 6, until now unknown in Ann Arbor, might migrate northwards in coming decades into the city? The truly awful possibility: The Ohio Buckeye Tree.

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Resources

• Monthly Climate Summary
• Introduction to Climate Change
• The IPCC Report on Climate Change
• The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change
• PETM: Global Warming, Naturally
• Arctic Sea Ice
• Greenland