Climate change could affect the fall scene

Think Progress - The phenomenon of brilliant red and gold autumn foliage might change due to the large amount of carbon dioxide we put in the atmosphere, and the resulting warmth that carbon traps inside.

The higher concentration of carbon dioxide itself might actually make fall colors brighter, Howard Neufeld, a professor of physiological plant ecology at Appalachian State University, explains in a Tuesday piece in The Conversation, citing research published in the journal New Phytologist back in 2010. But the higher temperatures that result from large atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide could result in longer summers and shorter autumns, thereby delaying the onset of future colorful leaf seasons and causing them to be shorter in duration.

Changing temperature patterns could also cause those colors to come in splotchy — that is, all the trees won’t change at once. “As the climate warms, the finely-tuned timing of the fall’s color display may lose its synchronization,” Neufeld writes, citing research from the Royal Society. “Rather than the well-timed symphony of color that we’re used to now, we might see unsynchronized patches as each species changes over the course of the season.”