Global warming will change the lengths of the four seasons, a new study suggests, potentially making six-month-long summers the norm in the Northern Hemisphere by the year 2100.
In contrast, winters could last less than two months a year, while spring and autumn similarly shorter. These drastic seasonal changes would have wide-reaching impacts on the world, disturbing agriculture and animal behavior, increasing the frequency of heat waves, storms and wildfires, and ultimately posing “increased risks to humanity,” the study authors wrote.
“Tropical mosquitoes carrying viruses are likely to expand northward and bring about explosive outbreaks during longer and hotter summers,” the researchers wrote in their study, published Feb. 19 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
These and other potential impacts “heighten the urgency of understanding” how the seasons morph with climate change, and whether that transformation will continue in the future.