Seasonally uneven warming

Abstract

Climate warming tends to extend the vegetative growing seasons through earlier spring activity or later autumn dormancy, or some combination of the two. Responses are often quite complex in practice however, due to modulating factors such as snow cover and because warming in many regions is inconsistent across the year. In Europe, for example, winter and spring months are warming twice as fast as months in the summer and autumn.

Probability of Spring Frosts, Not Growing Degree-Days, Drives Onset of Spruce Bud Burst in Plantations at the Boreal-Temperate Forest Ecotone

“…In fact, 43% of the Northern Hemisphere has experienced an increase of more than one growing-season frost event per year over the period 1982–2012 ( Liu et al., 2018 ). In addition, climate warming (both mean and extremes) is not equal across seasons and latitudes ( Loarie et al., 2009 ; Brown, 2019 ). Winter and spring are warming faster than summer and autumn and the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events such as heavy rainfall and droughts are rising ( Easterling et al., 2000 ; Stott et al., 2015 ; Brown, 2019 ).…”

“…In addition, climate warming (both mean and extremes) is not equal across seasons and latitudes ( Loarie et al., 2009 ; Brown, 2019 ). Winter and spring are warming faster than summer and autumn and the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events such as heavy rainfall and droughts are rising ( Easterling et al., 2000 ; Stott et al., 2015 ; Brown, 2019 ). Therefore, the response of trees to climate change will likely diverge across stands or populations of the same species ( D'Orangeville et al., 2018 ; Marchand et al., 2019 ), increasing the need for population-specific response to climate change.…”