We all enjoy the beautiful colors of the Fall season, especially up here in New Hampshire, but what is the science behind it? Well, in order for leaves to be bright green they need lots of sunshine and typically milder temperatures. Chlorophyll is the main chemical in the leaves which gives them their green color. In the fall the days become shorter so there is less daylight and therefore less sunshine for the chemical process to occur. It has also been proven that the weather can affect the leaves changing color as climatologically, the fall and winter months are cloudier than the summer months. Cooler weather affects the leaves in that the cold air closes up the veins in the leaves where the chemical reactions occur, without those reactions the green color fades. Without the sunshine and long hours of daylight other chemicals take over giving the leaves their yellow, orange, red, and brown colors. This year's fall foliage should be pretty nice as we have had a favorable summer and a few warm fall days so far (weather like this makes the colors more vibrant). Of course each type of tree is different, but here in New England where the mountians are covered with many different types of trees the colors appear to be more colorful. The peak fall foliage viewing times for New Hampshire are early to mid Ocotober.
For more information of how leaves change:
http://na.fs.fed.us/fhp/pubs/leaves/leaves.shtm
To track fall foliage visit:
http://www.wmur.com/ne-fall-colors/index.html
Great references for readers to go and get some more information.
ReplyDeleteI would think about using Labels to organize your posts so readers can reference certain types of content later. i.e. forecasts, etc.