After a mild winter across much of the United States, February brought abnormally high temperatures, especially east of the Rockies. Spring weather arrived more than three weeks earlier than usual in some places, and new research released Wednesday shows…drumroll please...a strong link to climate change! Imagine that!!
The new research shows a strong link between global warming and the very warm February that helped to drive the extremely early spring this year. For the entire continental United States, February 2017 was the second warmest on record, and mean temperatures were especially high east of the Rockies: as much as 11 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.
This year, "first leaf" vegetation arrived much earlier than the 30-year average.
This year, "first leaf" vegetation arrived much earlier than the 30-year average.
Link to the full article: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/08/climate/early-spring.html