New USDA map

[Eastlandia]

I was reading the paper yesterday morning and found that the Indianapolis Star is claiming that the USDA will have to issue an "updated" version of the climate zone map due to global warming. Is this true and have other people heard about it? I believe in global warming, but I think they are jumping the gun pretty quickly...I still cannot grow my orange plantation in Detroit. Rats!

Also, if I'm stealing someones thunder because you have already talked about this, I apologize...I'm behind.

[svendrix]

Hi Eastlandia,

I haven't heard that, but it is welcome news! Hopefully they'll make it quite a bit more usable then it is for us folks that aren't in a HUGE area of color, heh. I live in an area that has about 4 zones squished into a tiny little area. It'd be nice if the maps could be "zoomed" into, or state by state, because I'm sorry, it's just a little useless for most folks that don't fit into the "whole state is zone X" scenario.

If they are producing a new map, I'd think it was just overdue for an update (the current USDA zone map is using 1990 data, even in the 2003 web map version), instead of being specifically to address global warming. Again, not being a part of the process, this is just a guess on my part obviously... =D

---Sven

[bambooweb]

The AHS has had a new map since 2003 http://www.ahs.org/pdfs/USDA_Map_3.03.pdf (Warning Large File)
The USDA did not use it at that time because they had just spent a lot of money on the web version of the 1990 map. Note for the Inland Northwest the map looks like the 1960 map before they made the changes showing colder temperatures.

Bill

[Iowaboo]

Current maps do a good enough job. They give us a general guidline, but many other factors come into play. And I don't know about all that hocus pocus about global warming, maybe the urban jungles are getting hotter with all the concrete, but with spring coming a month later this year here, its hard to believe in such propaganda.

[Eastlandia]

Yeah Lance, I agree.
I have a hard time not believing the positive correlation with the CO2 levels and global temperature because they can see similar trends in the past 100 years or more... but its going to take more than a few years for us to see major impacts.

Sven, I forget where you live, but I know that sometimes you just have to rely on micro climates rather than one climate zone or the other. I know of many bambooists who just experiment with different locations. Ha ha, that's what I do. I like your idea about a more detailed map. It would be fun to get a interactive map that you could click on any city and see its max low, max high for certain years. I don't know, maybe a good winter project for someone (hint: not me).

peace

[bambooweb]

According to the magazine 'Nature' the next 10 years will be colder than the northern hemisphere but in 50 years the temperatures will be higher. So in 10 years they will have to move the zones down again then move them back up 40 years after that.

Bill

[boonut]

The climate at the Boonut farm is getting warmer every day. A new subdivision is going in just north. These are big houses and should generate both a wind screen and warmth from the houses. The farm used to be totally out in the open. Used to be very windy and colder than my house in the city.

I am very excited about the new developments. Maybe I can plant my Schizostachyum Brachycladum at the farm instead of at the house.

[foxd]

We haven't really had the extremes we normally get in Spring. Temperatures have stayed above freezing for about a month, which is unusual since we normally get several weeks of warmer than normal weather followed by a killer freeze.

Shoots have been slow to emerge this year, but the ones I'm seeing are larger than last years.

Has anyone looked to see if the article in NATURE is actually saying what the news media is saying it says?

[bambooweb]

We haven't really had the extremes we normally get in Spring. Temperatures have stayed above freezing for about a month, which is unusual since we normally get several weeks of warmer than normal weather followed by a killer freeze.

Shoots have been slow to emerge this year, but the ones I'm seeing are larger than last years.

Has anyone looked to see if the article in NATURE is actually saying what the news media is saying it says?

Here there also has not been the normal extremes in temperatures but the temps have been constantly below "Normal". In the past month the high temp has gone above 70 only 4 days and for most of the days in the last two months the highs have been 10 degrees below normal. The current forecast is calling for temps in the 80s this weekend then dropping back to the 60s. The lows are forecasted to be above freezing but since the last freeze was Friday I expect more frosts this spring.

The nature article is at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 3043a.html but you have to pay to read the complete article.
There is a graph at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 3a_F1.html but without the article it does not help much.

Bill

[foxd]

We haven't really had the extremes we normally get in Spring. Temperatures have stayed above freezing for about a month, which is unusual since we normally get several weeks of warmer than normal weather followed by a killer freeze.

Shoots have been slow to emerge this year, but the ones I'm seeing are larger than last years.

Has anyone looked to see if the article in NATURE is actually saying what the news media is saying it says?

Here there also has not been the normal extremes in temperatures but the temps have been constantly below "Normal". In the past month the high temp has gone above 70 only 4 days and for most of the days in the last two months the highs have been 10 degrees below normal. The current forecast is calling for temps in the 80s this weekend then dropping back to the 60s. The lows are forecasted to be above freezing but since the last freeze was Friday I expect more frosts this spring.

The nature article is at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 3043a.html but you have to pay to read the complete article.
There is a graph at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v4 ... 3a_F1.html but without the article it does not help much.

Bill

Actually that links to an article about the article here:
http://electron.electronics.indiana.edu ... 53043a.pdf

The actual article can be read here:
http://129.79.46.40/foxd/bamboo/nature06921.pdf

It will take a while to wade through.

[svendrix]

Wow, thanks foxd for that link to some VERY light reading to get me started in the morning. Whoa, I think I'll need to wait until I am more awake to even attempt that...

---Sven

[foxd]

Looking over the article, the most informative graph is in the upper left hand corner of page 87. The models predict stable temperatures between 2005 and 2010 and then the temperatures start to climb.

Another thing of note is the use of decade and decadal in the article. A lot of the data is averaged over ten year periods ploted at five year intervals.

[needmore]

I think I'll print out several copies of the maps and wrap my plants in them...

[Eastlandia]

Needmore, careful of false advertising... you dont want your young plants to be subjected to fasionable media.