Fairbanks, AK 2.5F Warmer, 11% Drier Than 100 Years Ago: Growing Season Was 85 Days, Now 123

[hatrack]

FAIRBANKS - One hundred years ago, the growing season in Fairbanks was less than three months long. Last year, some local gardeners were still harvesting broccoli and cabbage in mid-September.

Fairbanks is 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit hotter and 11 percent drier than it was in the early 20th century, according to data gathered by the Alaska Climate Research Center. (The growing season is marked by the last frost in spring and the first frost in fall.) These changes have stretched the growing season from 85 to 123 days in the past century. And while warming might produce more potatoes and pumpkins in cold-climate regions, it could eradicate tree populations. "Every change in climate will bring positive things and negative things," said Gerd Wendler, director of the research center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Agriculture is one beneficiary of a warmer climate in Fairbanks. But before you start planting olives, consider the discrepancy among growing seasons in the just past five years. In 2006, the last hard freeze struck June 6. Last spring, the final frost came May 15, according to data from the National Weather Service.

EDIT

In the past 100 years, temperatures climbed the most in winter but rose in every season except fall. Yet every season has been touched by the consequences, as living conditions improve for insects, moisture content changes and freeze-thaw cycles are altered. The single month with the biggest change was April, which warmed by more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit. That's partly because April is when snow melts, which compounds warming, Wendler said.

EDIT

http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/080210/sta_689720236.shtml

[hobbit709]

1. But there's no such thing as climate change, doncha know?

I don't think I need to add the sarcasm thingie.