Seasons are changing

Rapid temperature changes affect the seasons, causing variations in season length.

Changes such as shorter winters can lead to mismatches between key elements in an ecosystem, such as feeding periods for young birds and availability of worms or insects for food. It also impacts on farmers’ growing seasons.

Climatic records put together with long-term records of flowering and nesting times show clear warming trends.

In Britain flowering time and leaf-break records date back to 1736, thus providing solid evidence of climate-related changes. Long-term trends towards earlier bird breeding, earlier spring migrant arrival and later autumn departure dates have been observed in North America, along with changes in migratory patterns in Europe.