In November, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a new plant hardiness zone map, the guide that helps gardeners decide when to plant crops. The new map shifts most of the country up a half-zone.
By midcentury, Rood said, crocuses and daffodils will be a common February sight in Michigan.
The changes have major implications for farmers, who rely on predictable seasons to sustain their crops. Fruit tree farmers are particularly at-risk when warm winters cause blossoms to open early, only to be killed off by a sudden freeze.
Forests are also at risk. If society doesn’t move faster to ditch fossil fuels, scientists predict the boreal tree species that define “Up North” will be goners. Some people are trying to get ahead of those changes by planting southern trees in Michigan’s northern forests.
Trouble for tourism
Winter tourism is an economic lifeline for many rural northern Michigan communities, which have few other major industries.
Tom Nemacheck, executive director of the Upper Peninsula Travel & Recreation Association, said he fears for the U.P.’s economic future as snow and ice dwindle.
“If this winter is not a wake-up call,” he said, “I don’t know what you want.”
On a given winter, Nemacheck said U.P. visitors would spend around $180 million on lodging, food, entertainment and supplies. This year, he expects 20 percent or less of that.
Many hotels have laid off their staff and closed for the season. A series of consecutive bad winters could lead to permanent closures.
Long-term, experts said, operating a ski hill in southern Michigan probably won’t pencil out. Artificial snow cannons aren’t much use when temperatures are so warm that the snow melts on contact.
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February 28, 2024 at 02:15AM
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Michigan climate change: How fish, forests, farms, moose, ticks will change - Bridge Michigan
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