Is anybody else seeing signs of climate change?

[Lily_Lover]

When I moved to Vancouver Island 4 years ago I was in Zone 7a and now it has been reclassified to Zone 8a. Our winters have been very strange. Our snow-on-the-ground days (as I call them) were are follows:

• 2015-2016: 6
• 2016-2017: 60 (ten times as long - can you believe it - sure was a shock to us!!)
• 2017-2018: 14
• 2018-2019: 1 (so far but winter is not over yet)

This winter has been much milder than the last three. We have only had about 3 days of frost. I have way more green stuff overwintering than I have had in the past.

 

[treeguy]

Back when I lived in Antarctica we could walk to India. I remember Pangea fondly, but times change and continents change. Today, my old homestead is under a mile of ice. The weather was different, but climate changes, too. For the most part the changes in climate are just like the changes in the positions of the continents: a little over an extended time period and only really noticeable on a graph with the minor exception of the occasional collision of a meteor. People are noticing weather variability, not climate change. Is the climate changing? Yes, it is constantly warming or cooling, but we will not know until we can look back on today a few hundred years from now.

 

[Sean Regan]

Definitely signs of climate change!
Three of my "golf days" have so far been cancelled in the last five days due to freezing temperatures and a snow covered course. Haven't had anything like this in ten years.

 

[Lily_Lover]

Back when I lived in Antarctica we could walk to India. I remember Pangea fondly, but times change and continents change. Today, my old homestead is under a mile of ice. The weather was different, but climate changes, too. For the most part the changes in climate are just like the changes in the positions of the continents: a little over an extended time period and only really noticeable on a graph with the minor exception of the occasional collision of a meteor. People are noticing weather variability, not climate change. Is the climate changing? Yes, it is constantly warming or cooling, but we will not know until we can look back on today a few hundred years from now.

Hey @treeguy don't you mean a few hundred-thousand years from now (i.e. 100,000+)?

 

[DirtMechanic]

I personally would base my growing zone information over a period longer than the USDA moving average of 10 years. I base this on a fig tree in my yard that froze shortly after we moved here roughly 20 years ago, and then again about 3 years ago. It burns at 10f a cutoff between zone 7 and 8. In that time our 10 year temp average has moved higher, but then we get socked like we are zone 7 again. It has to be irritating to anyone with a large number of borderline plants to have them damaged because of reliance on a moving average.

 

[Lily_Lover]

This whole zone thing really gets quite silly at times actually. It only measures one temperature and when there are so many other variables involved such as length of days, numbers of days with sunshine, amount of rainfall and so on it seems almost pointless to assume that a plant that grows in zone 8a in Texas is even going to survive in my location (Vancouver Island) which is also zone 8a or visa versa. Look at the high temperatures in these two locations: Texas (say Austin) gets average temps in the mid 90's during the summer; Our record high is 98 and our average summer temps are mid 70's during the summer. I am sure there are numerous other variations to demonstrate my point.

Your thoughts?

 

[DirtMechanic]

This whole zone thing really gets quite silly at times actually. It only measures one temperature and when there are so many other variables involved such as length of days, numbers of days with sunshine, amount of rainfall and so on it seems almost pointless to assume that a plant that grows in zone 8a in Texas is even going to survive in my location (Vancouver Island) which is also zone 8a or visa versa. Look at the high temperatures in these two locations: Texas (say Austin) gets average temps in the mid 90's during the summer; Our record high is 98 and our average summer temps are mid 70's during the summer. I am sure there are numerous other variations to demonstrate my point.

Your thoughts?

I am instantly reminded of the grow natural or local plants ideology. It can wear a person out trying to make something work when a plant really does not want to be there.

 

[treeguy]

Yeah, but we get tired of dandelions up here and y'all don't really want to eat that much canned watermelon...

 

[DrCase]

7

This whole zone thing really gets quite silly at times actually. It only measures one temperature and when there are so many other variables involved such as length of days, numbers of days with sunshine, amount of rainfall and so on it seems almost pointless to assume that a plant that grows in zone 8a in Texas is even going to survive in my location (Vancouver Island) which is also zone 8a or visa versa. Look at the high temperatures in these two locations: Texas (say Austin) gets average temps in the mid 90's during the summer; Our record high is 98 and our average summer temps are mid 70's during the summer. I am sure there are numerous other variations to demonstrate my point.

Your thoughts?

70s during the summer would be perfect for me.

 

[DirtMechanic]

7



70s during the summer would be perfect for me.

Without the humidity. I get tired of squeezing the air before I breathe.

 

[treeguy]

It's always a matter of what are you willing to trade to escape something. Lots of Michiganders escape the winters, but us fat guys can't handle the 90°F with 90% humidity, to say nothing of the ocational Hurricane. Others trade snow for ocational duststorms, flash floods, 5% humidity and snakes. Each place does have a "nice" season. The trick is to have enough money to own homes in a few places and just get up and leave when it suits your soul. Or, be a hobo.