Current:Home > InvestNew hardiness zone map will help US gardeners keep pace with climate change -TruePath Finance
New hardiness zone map will help US gardeners keep pace with climate change
View
Date:2025-04-24 13:02:22
WASHINGTON (AP) — Southern staples like magnolia trees and camellias may now be able to grow without frost damage in once-frigid Boston.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ” plant hardiness zone map ” was updated Wednesday for the first time in a decade, and it shows the impact that climate change will have on gardens and yards across the country.
Climate shifts aren’t even — the Midwest warmed more than the Southeast, for example. But the map will give new guidance to growers about which flowers, vegetables and shrubs are most likely to thrive in a particular region.
One key figure on the map is the lowest likely winter temperature in a given region, which is important for determining which plants may survive the season. It’s calculated by averaging the lowest winter temperatures of the past 30 years.
Across the lower 48 states, the lowest likely winter temperature overall is 2.5 degrees (1.4 degrees Celsius) warmer than when the last map was published in 2012, according to Chris Daly, a researcher at Oregon State University’s PRISM Climate Group, which collaborates with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service to produce the map.
Boston University plant ecologist Richard Primack, who was not involved in the map project, said: “Half the U.S. has shifted to a slightly warmer climatic zone than it was 10 years ago.” He called that “a very striking finding.”
Primack said he has noticed changes in his own garden: The fig trees are now surviving without extensive steps to protect them from winter cold. He has also spotted camellias in a Boston botanical garden and southern magnolia trees surviving the past few winters without frost damage. These species are all generally associated with warmer, more southern climates.
Winter temperatures and nighttime temperatures are rising faster than daytime and summer temperatures, Primack said, which is why the lowest winter temperature is changing faster than the U.S. temperature overall.
As the climate shifts, it can be tricky for plants — and growers — to keep up.
“There are a lot of downsides to the warmer winter temperatures, too,” said Theresa Crimmins, who studies climate change and growing seasons at the University of Arizona and was not involved in creating the map. “When we don’t have as cold winter temperatures, we don’t have as severe die-backs of insects that carry diseases, like ticks and mosquitoes.”
She added that hotter, drier summers in some regions may kill plants that once thrived there.
“You wouldn’t want to plant plants that aren’t adapted right now for where you’re living,” she said.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
veryGood! (37)
Related
- FACT FOCUS: Inspector general’s Jan. 6 report misrepresented as proof of FBI setup
- Gwen Stefani's Son Kingston Rossdale Makes Live Music Debut at Blake Shelton's Bar
- Derek Carr throws a TD pass in New Orleans Saints debut vs. Kansas City Chiefs
- Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian Showcases Baby Bump in Garden Walk Selfie
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Two witnesses to testify Tuesday before Georgia grand jury investigating Trump
- The Taliban are entrenched in Afghanistan after 2 years of rule. Women and girls pay the price
- Two witnesses to testify Tuesday before Georgia grand jury investigating Trump
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Zooey Deschanel and Property Brothers' Jonathan Scott Are Engaged
Ranking
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- See how one volunteer group organized aid deliveries after fire decimates Lahaina
- Oprah Winfrey provides support, aid to Maui wildfire survivors
- Utah man accused of threatening president pointed gun at agents, FBI says
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny Pack on the PDA at Drake Concert in L.A.
- Jimmy Fallon Is the Ultimate Rockstar During Surprise Performance at Jonas Brothers Concert
- Sperm can't really swim and other surprising pregnancy facts
Recommendation
'Most Whopper
Ford F-150 Lightning pickup saves the day for elderly man stranded in wheelchair
Where Billie Eilish and Jesse Rutherford Stand 3 Months After Their Breakup
Two witnesses to testify Tuesday before Georgia grand jury investigating Trump
Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
Russia's ruble is now worth less than 1 cent. It's the lowest since the start of Ukraine war.
Police chase in Milwaukee leaves 1 dead, 9 hurt
Judge sides with young activists in first-of-its-kind climate change trial in Montana