The cherry blossoms are blooming in Richmond VA...

[Virginia Dare]

it looks like Spring, this is so freaking scary...:scared:

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Don't be scared....global warming is just a myth...

:sarcasm:

[grasswire]

2. wow

I miss Virginia. It's so beautiful.

[Virginia Dare]

3. Yes, it shouldn't be this time of year though...n/t

[flyarm]

4. AND IN nj ALL MY DAFFODILS ARE UP WITH BIG BUDS FORMED

ALMOST READY TO OPEN!! and it is supposed to be 60 degrees next weekend!!

trees are all budded up!!

no global warming here folks!!

[tridim]

5. Any botanists in the house?

What does this do to annuals? I assume the blooms will eventually freeze, will they bloom again in the summer or will the hormones get all out of whack?

[StClone]

13. Trees will suffer

They are using stored energy that will not be replenished until light levels are strong enough for photosynthesis like late March at the earliest. Annuals will be unaffected as they are plants such as marigolds. Perennials such as hostas will need even warmer temps to come around and would no doubt be frosted also retarding their growth early next season. An El-nino winter is often followed by a normal to cool spring into June so the stage is set for some damage. But that could be tossed out the window with the rapid Climate change that may be happening.

[tridim]

17. What if the same thing happens every year for the next 20 years?

Will natural selection weed out the plants that can't store enough energy for the extra blooming? That's what I'm wondering, what is global warming going to do to Earth's plant life? Does the extra blooming use more CO2? Maybe it's a survival mechanism of some sort.

[StClone]

22. It may be happening already

Insects and diseases will step up too. There are native plants already disappearing and "migrating" northward or attitudinally because of the stresses you question. Other natives and especially invasives are popping up in their place. Japanese knotweed, Tree of Heaven, Buckthorn others http://www.a-spi.org/tp/tp56.htm. In the West beetles, drought, fires, logging and land use are transforming what once was thought impervious swaths of coniferous covered land. The first three in the last sentence are Climate change related. It is happening too fast for what would be called Natural Selection, the term may be more akin to disturbance processes such as after hurricanes, logging or fires. We can look to the past when things heated up (Carbon dioxide too) and vegetation grew abundantly as in the Carboniferous Age. Who knows. Freepers know because they think they do.

[zanne]

27. I've been wondering about this quite a bit...

I hate to sound like a "Link" nut, but could you point me in the right direction so I can read more?

[whistle]

6. Much too early for that isn't it?

[madrchsod]

7. yes it is changing

http://www.arborday.org/media/mapchanges.cfm
Hardiness Zone Changes at arborday.org

[Benhurst]

15. Thanks for the link, madrchsod. Scary. NT

[bdamomma]

8. there have been many stories like this being told about

how the flowers are blooming in the most inappropriate time and animals (bears who are not in hiberation) don't know what the crap is happening to the environment, this issue of global warming should not be ignored.

[HockeyMom]

9. Rose Bush Blooming at Work

has been for a couple of months.

[Little Wing]

10. Yes it's sooo scary

[whistle]

11. Is it global warming or are the Nazis coming out of hiding

Earth is oblate rather than spherical and has huge polar openings which lead to its hollow interior. The planet's gravity is in its shell and not at its core or center. An inner central sun lights and warms the interior concave surface where the inhabitants walk upside down from us!

[ThomWV]

12. And People Wonder Why I Want Al Gore For President

It goes without saying ....

[lonestarnot]

14. Next couple of years and everything in the ocean will be dead.

[hellbound-liberal]

16. Hey Virginia, I live near Richmond,,

where are the cherry blossoms blooming?

[Virginia Dare]

23. I was at the Short Pump Mall, there at the entry way...n/t

[mnhtnbb]

18. There's a cherry tree blooming on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, too.

I almost drove the car into the curb when I saw it!

[leftchick]

24. they are blooming in Greensboro too!

as well as forsythia and my freakin daffodils are popping up! :argh:

[valerief]

19. And the leaves are turning in Aspen.

:banghead:

[Burma Jones]

20. The Cherry Trees on the old Atomic Energy Commission site in Germantown, MD

are also in bloom.......

This is some weird shit weather for sure

[LiberalEsto]

21. Also blooming in Maryland and DC

The WashPost had an article about the blooming cherry trees today. And there are cherries blooming in Redland Park in Derwood, MD, outside Rockville.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

25. Here in NY I still have a couple of my annuals from last spring alive, and my rosemary. eom

[malaise]

26. My sister in Denmark told me

her apple blossoms were blooming two days before Christmas. It was 57 degrees there on Christmas day. That was a first in the 35 years since they bought their property

Add.

[Philosoraptor]

28. A robin on my midwest lawn asked, 'what're you doin' here in Florida'?

[radfringe]

29. NE-PA

we're still able to pick fresh catnip for our kitties.

ground isn't frozen. Grass is still green. low 50's yesterday.
I was tempted to brush aside some mulch covering around the garden to see if the daffodil bulbs have sprouted.

forget snow, had a dusting or two, but it was gone within a hour