Fewer Rainy Days and Earlier Springs Linked in Northern Climates

Mar 30, 2022

By Pam Knox

A recent article from the National Science Foundation describes the result of a study on when new leaves appear on plants in spring by scientists at Ohio State University and published in Nature Climate Change. The study shows that while warmer temperatures are the primary cause of earlier leaf occurrence, the number of days of rain (not the amount of precipitation) also makes a difference, and as the number of rainy days per year has been decreasing in many areas north of 30 degrees latitude, this is also affecting how early the leaves come out. The researchers calculated that a decline in rainfall frequency will lead to spring arriving an additional one to two days earlier each decade through 2100. What would cause this? The researchers think that fewer rainy days means fewer cloudy days, too, and that more sunlight reaching the plants in spring stimulates them to produce leaves earlier in the year.

Source : uga.edu

Video: Finding a Balance of Innovation and Regulation - Dr. Peter Facchini

Regulations help markets and industry exist on level playing fields, keeping consumers safe and innovation from going too far. However, incredibly strict regulations can stunt innovation and cause entire industries to wither away. Dr. Peter James Facchini brings his perspective on how existing regulations have slowed the advancement of medical developments within Canada. Given the international concern of opium poppy’s illicit potential, Health Canada must abide by this global policy. But with modern technology pushing the development of many pharmaceuticals to being grown via fermentation, is it time to reconsider the rules?

Dr. Peter James Facchini leads research into the metabolic biochemistry in opium poppy at the University of Calgary. For more than 30 years, his work has contributed to the increased availability of benzylisoquinoline alkaloid biosynthetic genes to assist in the creation of morphine for pharmaceutical use. Dr. Facchini completed his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biological Sciences at the University of Toronto before completing Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky in 1992 & Université de Montréal in 1995.