Courtship Ceremonies

Despite winter being in full swing, many of us are counting down the days until spring We are daydreaming about the tell-tale signs that winter is fading: skunk cabbage flowers poking up through the melting snow, swollen creeks rushing past, the earthy aroma of geosmin in the air, and the high pitch calls of chorus frogs and spring peepers. However, as we think about spring we may also notice how the transition to spring seems to be getting more erratic and happening earlier in the year. For example, as I write this in January it is 11°F outside, but in just a couple of days, the high temperature is forecasted to be 42°F. This strange weather is not just happenstance, it is a sign of our climate changing. Here in Northern Illinois, the average spring temperature has increased by 1°C (1.8°F) in the past 50 years, and it will continue to increase in the future if current global greenhouse gas emission rates continue. This increase may not seem like a big deal, but even a tiny temperature change can cause major ecosystem disruption.