A new study has found that the seasons changing before time might be an outcome of climate change and the warming of standard global temperature. Experts have said that it can result in extended summer of at least six months. As per the report, these balance shifts might have deadly impacts on agriculture, the natural atmosphere, and human health as well. The findings of the new study have been published in the journal of Geophysical Research and Letters. Experts have looked at climate and seasonal data from 1952 to 2011 in the Northern hemisphere. They have extracted temperature data during these years that has helped them to find out when each of four seasons has started on average.
The findings of the study have shown that the usual duration of summer has shot up from an average of 78 days to 95 days. At the same time, spring, winter, and fall have witnessed a drop in length varying from three to nine days, said the experts. Scientists have extrapolated this data and found that if this trend remains the same at the current rate, summer might last for nearly six months by 2100.
The lead author of the study, Yuping Guan, who is a physical oceanographer from the State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has said that there is a biological clock for every living thing. He has said that people often complain about a two or three degrees rise in temperature but here global warming might be responsible for changing the seasons. The lead author has said that some of the consequences of such change in the seasons might be harmful to humans as well. Yuping Guan and his team have noted that due to such seasonal change, people might be exposed to high amounts of pollen for long period.
There might be an increase in mosquito population as well, heading towards a hotter northern atmosphere. This can result in exposure to certain types of viruses, such as malaria into a new atmosphere. Experts have said that flora and fauna might find it hard to adapt to the new environment. As a warm climate grows even hotter and lasts for a long period, it will disrupt current ecosystems and the demand for energy.
Scientists have concluded their study saying that the trend will remain the same if emissions are not restrained and the Earth will continue to take in more heat that will reflect into space. The authors of the study have said that under the business-as-usual situation, spring, and summer are expected to arrive a month earlier than 2011 by the end of the century. While autumn and winter will begin a month later, this will lead to nearly half a year of summer and fewer than 2 months of winter in 2100.
As the change in the lengths of four seasons continues, it can prompt a series of reactions said the experts. In such a case, policymaking in agriculture management, health care, and disaster prevention measures need a complete overhaul or adjustments.
