The Washington Post had a light-hearted (I think) opinion piece this week about “phenology anxiety”, which is essentially worrying about early signs of spring and what they might mean for your garden and back yard. People with this anxiety watch carefully for signs of the arrival of spring in the timing of birds, buds and pollen and worry about what happens if they come much earlier or later than expected.
Here’s the quiz from the Washington Post to see if you have experienced phenology anxiety:
“1. Were you concerned when your allergies kicked in earlier than usual this year?
2. Have you been worried about the cherry blossoms that were blighted by early warming and subsequent cold?
3. Are you disheartened by the frozen brown magnolia flowers in your neighborhood?
4. Do you wonder what the crazy weather extremes will mean for your garden this spring or for summer peaches at the farm stand?
If you answered yes to any of the above, you may be suffering from phenology anxiety, a worry that natural occurrences are seriously out of whack. Phenology is a science that is making a comeback because of concerns about climate change. You can become a citizen scientist and conduct phenology research in your own back yard.”
Of course, as a climatologist I’ve been doing this for years. I worried about the early spring and the frost damage months before it happened, and I worry about the impact of each El Niño and La Niña on crops and agriculture around the Southeast. Good to know that I now have a diagnosis for my condition!
