wintler2 wrote:
Those sources provide evidence it is. [url=http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/wa/perth.shtml]Hottest year ever in my home town[url], 32C there right now at 9pm local time, i'm on other side of continent and its 28C at 11pm.
Do you have evidence that you are able to provide and discuss that suggests otherwise?
I find this interesting. Some probably remember that some airports in the southern United States had to shift their runway operations because seemingly the magnetic fields had changed in the area. Around the same time many people around the world were reporting strange behavior of their compasses. Now the USDA has issued new planting maps. Dutch has an interesting theory on it. Dutch has an interesting video below.
wintler2 may throw me in the gulag for evil deniers for posting this but i'm always willing to explore the strange and weird.
Janice Lloyd, USA TODAY Staff
Camelias, a New Orleans trademark, staking out in North Carolina and higher latitudes?
It’s true, gardening experts say, and expect similar oddities to represent the new norm.
It is now safe to plant new species in many parts of the nation, according to a new government map released Wednesday showing new growing guidelines for the first time in decades. A gradual northward warming trend makes it possible to plant trees and other perennials that would have perished in colder zones.
The “hardiness” zones, the gospel to the the nation’s 82 million gardeners that are printed on the back of seed packs and catalogs, are based on average minimum temperatures.
“It is a good thing the government has updated the map,” says Woodrow Nelson, director of marketing communications for the Arbor Day Foundation. “Our members have been noticing these climate changes for years and have been successfully growing new kinds of trees in places they wouldn’t grow before.”
For example, Pennsylvania’s growing zone was considered risky for Southern Magnolias, according to the old government map dating to 1990. But the new map, based on updated weather statistics from 1996 to 2005, puts Pennsylvania, like much of the Northeast, in a warmer growing zone.
Catherine Woteki, an undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, which issued the new guidelines, cautioned against reading too much into the changes. “We do not think the plant hardiness zone methodology is appropriate for making comments on climate change,” she says.
Might gardeners being going out on a limb? Steve Carroll, director of public programs at the State Arboretum in Virginia, advises gardeners to check with their local nurseries or a university extension program for advice.
“There’s definitely a changing climate,” says Charlie Nardozzi, a gardening consultant in northern Vermont. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t have a harsh winter again that could kill all their plants.”
Check out the interactive map: USDA Interactive Map
http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZM ... veMap.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTa6hBVX ... r_embedded