Volunteer for Project BudBurst
This nationwide effort to track climate change begins February 15th -- so join the effort in your own backyard. All you need to do is observe when flowers and foliage appear in your region -- and report your findings online.
The project is sponsored by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in cooperation with The Chicago Botanic Garden and the University of Montana with a grant from the US Bureau of Land Management and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
In a pilot project last year, several thousand volunteers recorded the timing of leaf-out and the appearance of flowers for hundreds of plant species in 26 states. The project is now operating throughout the year to account for early and late blooming species in different parts of the United States.
UCAR's Project Coordinator Sandra Henderson says that "climate change may be affecting our backyards and communities in ways that we don't even notice. Project BudBurst is designed to help both adults and children understand the changing relationship among climate, seasons, and plants, while giving the participants the tools to communicate their observations to others."
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change , 20-30 percent of all plant and animal species could be at risk of extinction if global temperatures rise this century by 2.7 to 4.5 degrees F.
For complete information on how to participate in this important study, go to www.budburst.org
(image of wild Cinquefoil © UCAR, Photo by Carlye Calvin)
that's a pretty scary scenario.
Posted by: brie | February 18, 2008 at 12:10 AM