New Plant Growth

[Peanut]

For the last month I’ve been seeing something happen to green plants that I’ve never seen in my lifetime. I first notice it driving back from Birmingham in early July. I was driving 80mph on a 6-lane interstate, there was no good place to pull over for photos. It’s hard to see around mid-day, early morning or late afternoon is the best time to see it.

1000’s of species of plant life are putting on new growth as if it were early spring. Late spring and early summer were extremely mild here and we’ve had rain almost daily.

I saw plants today that were almost ready to drop their seed but had new spring growth inches away.

The first pic are the woods across from my house last April to give a color reference of the light vibrant green leaves of spring.

The second photo is the corner of a soybean field today. Dozens of plants have new growth tops in front of the pines

Pics 3 & 4 is Carolina Buckthorn (used in US hospitals before Ex-lax was invented). It’s berries are currently a very pale green, in another month they’ll be red and mature. This plant has new spring growth inches away. The blue circle is around seed and older leaves. the red circle is around new growth.

Pic 5… even kudzu is getting in on the act!!! It’s also putting on spring growth.

Anyway, a plant that is damaged will try to put on growth just about any season. But these plants aren’t damaged yet they are putting on spring growth. I have never seen anything like this on this scale… I see new leaves on 100yrold oaks, pine trees are budding, ever species of vine or forb is leafing out again.

This is really strange...

 

[Bacpacker]

I'll have to pay closer attention when I'm out and about and see if that's happening here. I haven't noticed it, but haven't paid attention either

 

[dademoss]

It's happening here too. Should be the dog days of August, and it looks like spring. At least I know I'm not alone in seeing this stuff

 

[joel]

It is believed to be from the higher carbon, much like the Dinosaur times, animals the size of a house or three times as big as a house eating plants every day. Plants would have to grow like a rain forest, even on dry land. IF the Snow flakes are right it will be happening year around in a few years. If they are wrong, then it will turn back, slowly to an mini ice age, in about twenty year we will have colder winters & this will last 200 or 400 years in a never ending cycle of life.
Or it could be an Alien experiment in which we are trapped.

 

[SheepDog]

There is only half the CO2 in the atmosphere that was available in the carbonaceous period. The dinosaurs lived in a period of high oxygen that allowed insects as big as eagles and animals as big as the thunder lizards.
We need to be mindful of the low CO2 because if it gets much lower the plants won't be able to grow. Most nurseries use bottled CO2 to help with plant growth now.

 

[joel]

There is only half the CO2 in the atmosphere that was available in the carbonaceous period. The dinosaurs lived in a period of high oxygen that allowed insects as big as eagles and animals as big as the thunder lizards.
We need to be mindful of the low CO2 because if it gets much lower the plants won't be able to grow. Most nurseries use bottled CO2 to help with plant growth now.

True, but it is also true that we have more plant growth from higher level of CO2 & warmer winters, that are believed to be the start of a new carbonaceous period with the greenhouse effect. I believe that it is just a cycle, but other believe it will keep warming until life as we know it is over.

 

[SheepDog]

Water is the great modifier. Although water vapor is a "greenhouse" gas it also cools the air and ground. It absorbs carbon and lets the animals turn it into stone. What went wrong with Venus was a lack of water not an excess of CO2.

 

[joel]

We have had a lot of rain this year & the over 90F days have been low, so that has to helped plant put out new growth, instead of wilting in the long hot dry days of yesteryears.

A quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on April 25.
An international team of 32 authors from 24 institutions in eight countries led the effort, which involved using satellite data from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer instruments to help determine the leaf area index, or amount of leaf cover, over the planet’s vegetated regions. The greening represents an increase in leaves on plants and trees equivalent in area to two times the continental United States.

https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2436/co2-is-making-earth-greenerfor-now/

 

[Peanut]

I spotted new growth today that surprised the heck out of me. I've never seen Japanese honeysuckle bloom in October. I was looking up at new growth in a pecan tree by the corral. There are little spots of bright green growth on the end of a few limbs.

As I got closer I saw the honeysuckle on the corral fence. I've heard of it blooming into fall further south but not here.

(Japanese honeysuckle-is medicinal, I don't use it but many do.)

 

[Aerindel]

Yep, I've been seeing new plant growth too. Mostly because its been horribly dry for months but has actually rained a couple times in the last couple weeks so a few things have come back alive.

 

[Pearl]

We had three wetter summers in N Tx. Had my lilac bushes bloom twice this year, one is over 25 yrs old has never bloomed twice. Maybe the plants will rise up and take over!!