In less then a week, amateur
scientists will be able to help researchers study climate
change by tracking the life cycle of flowers.
A nationwide initiative called Project BudBurst, which launches
Feb. 15, allows students, gardeners and other citizen-scientists
to enter their observations into an online database that
will give researchers a detailed picture of climate variations.
Last spring, several thousand people in 26 states took part
in the pilot program, contributing leafing and flowering
times of hundreds of plant species. The project looks to
build on that initial success by operating year round so
that plant species can be monitored throughout their life
cycles.
A global temperature rise of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit would
put a third of all known plant and animal species at risk
of extinction, according to the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change.
"Climate change may be affecting our backyards and
communities in ways that we don’t even notice,”
says project coordinator Sandra Henderson of the University
Corporation for Atmospheric Research. “Project BudBurst
is designed to help both adults and children understand
the changing relationship among climate, seasons, and plants,
while giving the participants the tools to communicate their
observations to others."
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