Why our autumn color shift is falling behind
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It's mid-October, but we're only getting peeks of foliage change. Photo: Alissa Widman Neese/Axios
If your backyard trees still look surprisingly green for mid-October, you're not alone — color changes are a little late this year, part of a yearslong trend.
Why it matters: Fall is starting to look a little different in Central Ohio (and across the country), a visual reminder of climate change's effects on our plant and tree life.
How it works: Temperatures, growing seasons, carbon dioxide levels, rainfall patterns and droughts can all shift leaf behavior.
- Most of those changing factors can be traced back to warming climates.
What they're saying: "Here we are in mid-October and the oaks are still completely green," says Dan Herms, an entomologist who spent 20 years as an Ohio State professor and researcher before becoming general manager of The Davey Institute.
- "There's a lot of green out there, and that's just part of a trend."
The big picture: Record-setting heat — felt the strongest at night — is altering the growing seasons for U.S. trees. This affects their fall behaviors and can result in green leaves later in the season and quicker changes in color.
- Increasing carbon dioxide levels can also trick trees into thinking it's earlier than it is.
Case in point: While at OSU, Herms participated in an experiment that fumigated trees with extra CO2. By that fall, those trees looked out of place.
- "It was interesting to see the fumigated trees being green when everything else was yellow."
What's next: Over time, the shifting environment has impacted our plant hardiness zone level, a measure of an area's tolerance to cold, which will continue to adjust.
- That means we can expect different plant and tree life in the coming decades, further reshaping our autumn views.
- "It creates the need to be thoughtful about what trees to plant, because the climate's changing faster than the lifespan of a tree," Herms says. "If you plant a tree, you hope it will still be there in 80 years, and it's going to be experiencing a very different climate."
🍁 What we're watching: Central Ohio will likely see our leaves get closer to peak color by the end of the month.