You can help track climate change!

This is the year of change, isn't it? The whole presidential campaign was about change -- President Obama's Campaign theme was "Change We Can Believe In." The theme for his election is "Restoring America's Promise," which implies that we have lost our promise, and need to make some changes to earn it back...

While there are still a few folks debating the causes of climate change, it is pretty clear that our weather patterns are changing.

Here's an example that any gardener can relate to: Portions of the Chicago region have edged up from Hardiness Zone 5b to Zone 6 according to the Arbor Day Foundation.

“The USDA map just doesn’t seem right anymore,” said Woody Nelson, vice president of communications for the foundation. [Yes, that is his actual name - Woody - and he works for the Arbor Day Foundation!] “So we took it upon ourselvesto do our own map.” For an updated take on which plants are hardy in your region, look at the foundation’s map online.

The map puts the Chicago area in Zone 6 with an average low of 0 to -10 degrees. The area is in Zone 5 on the USDA map. The foundation used data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the same source the USDA map uses, but the data are more recent, collected from 1990 to 2004. The foundation’s map, like the USDA’s, is a compilation of average low temperatures because the lack of cold hardiness is the most profound barrier to plant success. Plants simply can’t adapt to regions where they are unable to survive the winter.The changes were startling. Many areas jumped one or two zones higher. “The climate has changed,” Nelson said. “It has warmed.”

It turns out that we can all help contribute real world information that will help scientists understand the implications of any changes that may be happening. The citizen tracking effort is called Project Budburst, and it is sponsored by organizations ranging from the US Forest Service to the Chicago Botanic Garden. You can join with thousands of gardeners across the country in tracking when the plants in your yard leaf and flower each year.

If you are at all like me, you delight in noticing those early blooms and sprouts - whether they are chives, crocuses or dandelions! Now, you can sign up to share that information with a national network, and be part of a pretty cool "citizen scientist" project that has practical applications for folks everywhere!