It’s shaping up to be a rough season for peepers.
Leaf peepers, that is.
If you’re unfamiliar with the phenomenon of leaf-peeping, it’s a pastime that involves traveling around to watch nature’s beauty in full bloom as the leaves on trees change colors when the weather turns cool.
However, climate change is having an adverse effect on the hobby, as droughts and heat waves rob leaves of the conditions that cause the color change, sending them straight from green to brown.
Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
Then of course there’s the severe weather and hurricanes that strip trees bare before the shift of hue even begins.
Certified Denver arborist Michael Sundberg told the Associated Press that extreme heat in his area have given the leaves around the Mile High City “dead, dry edges.”
“Instead of trees doing this gradual change, they get thrown these wacky weather events. They change all of a sudden, or they drop leaves early,” he said. “It's been a few years since we've had a really good leaf year where you just drive around town and see really good color.”
It all comes down to the biology of plants. The cooling temperatures of autumn break down the chlorophyll in leaves, causing the green shade to change to oranges, reds and yellows, making for a very colorful season when all goes according to plan.
But when rising summer temperatures cause drought, the trees are more likely to shed their leaves early and shut down.
And it’s not just a matter of visual appreciation. Leaf peeping is big business in the northeast U.S., with tourist dollars totaling in the billions for areas with a robust natural fall display.
Of course, there’s more to forests than just the pretty colors that show up in the last quarter of the year. Andy Finton, the Nature Conservancy’s landscape conservation director and a forest ecologist, believes it’s important that people do what they can to preserve nature before it’s too late.
“If we can keep the big, important forests intact, they will provide what we've depended on — clean air, clean water, clean forests, as well as fall inspiration,” Finton told the Associated Press.
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