Early ripening of berries in UK shows nature is under stress, say experts | UK weather

Fall is the “Mists Season and Sweet Fertility”, according to the poet John Keats – but whoever hoping for an overabundance of blackberries in September can be sorely disappointed.

In many parts of the British brambles, the brambles have burst out fruit since the middle of the summer, some now carrying only ratatious berries. And it is not the only characteristic of the fall that seems to have come early: the trees drop their leaves, the apples are ripe and the acorns hit the ground.

But with still high temperatures, experts say that this is not just a case of early fall. Instead, they say, nature is under stress.

England has just had its fourth heat wave of summer, temperatures reaching up to 33.4 ° C, and five areas of the country are in drought.

“A large part of what we see has been caused by a very hot and very dry spring and summer, this is one of the driest periods ever recorded,” said Kathryn Brown, director of climate change and evidence in Fife Trusts. “So he has the impression that autumn came early, but this is due to the natural environment which reacts to this very extreme spring and this summer, which is not average conditions to which our species is adapted in terms of seasonal cycles.”

Brown said birch and poplars had already become brown and lost their leaves, while in his own garden, the acorns were already falling oaks. “The trees will adjust the seeds [earlier] In response to stress, because they try to use an insurance strategy, “she said.

There have also been warnings about the trees that suddenly abandoned the branches. Although the cause of this phenomenon is not clear, it often occurs after a prolonged period of dry time.

According to the report on the climate of the statement of the Met Office Office, climate change cause changes in many biological events in the United Kingdom. Professor Tim Sparks, co-author of the report, noted that plants and insects became active earlier in the year.

Sparks said that the maturation of fruit earlier was the result of higher temperatures, with ratatious blackberries occurring due to a lack of water. “The drop of leaf is also a water problem; it is not fall in the sense that this is not the end of the growth season if we receive more rain,” he said.

While the trees drop their leaves because of the drought, Sparks said that a warmer climate should usually train trees to hang on their leaves longer. With the previous maturation of the fruit, he said, it would lead to a longer fall.

Although changes in the moment of natural events can be decorated for humans, ramifications could be serious for fauna. As Brown points out, birds such as merles tend to eat mainly insects in spring and summer and to their chicks when they reproduce.

“But in the fall, they go to seeds and berries and fruit like blackberries. And if they have already come and disappeared, there will be a food gap in the fall,” she said.

Brown said it had serious implications for animals trying to prepare for winter when food is rare.

“It is very difficult to predict what will be the exact impacts for different species, but it is very worrying, because the seasonal cycle is completely now out of control at the moment and our fauna is not suitable for this, so it is certainly much more chaotic for them,” she said.

Farmers also reconcile with unpredictable weather conditions. While the National Farmers ‘Union said that farmers and producers across the country faced a varied image in terms of crop yields this year, Rachel Hallos, his vice-president, said that farmers’ extreme weather conditions were affected by farmers to produce food.

“Although some parts of the country have seen precipitation and farmers are not foreign to unpredictable weather conditions, the extremes of this year have been unprecedented,” she said. “Last year, the harvest was marked by heavy rains; This year is his absence. These fluctuations in drought and flooding become more pronounced and more regular. ”

Hallos said food security must be a national priority and that it has called on the government to help farmers and producers strengthen resilience, stressing that investment was necessary in climate adaptation and varieties of resilient crops as well as water infrastructure.

The concerns of hallos are supported by the data of the Met Office, which revealed that winters become wet and that extreme temperatures have increased, becoming more frequent and more intense. This June was the warmest ever recorded in England and the second warmer in the United Kingdom since the records in 1884.

Brown said that the main concern was that current conditions occurred with global warming at around 1.5 ° C above pre-industrial levels, but higher warming levels were expected.

“This is what really worries me, it is to see the impacts now at this relatively low level of warming where things are already really stressed, and thinking about what it will be in five or 10 years, or even next year,” she said. “It’s quite difficult to plan, but it doesn’t seem very hopeful.”