If Vivaldi were writing "The Four Seasons" today, he might want to make "Spring" longer since it is coming earlier in Italy and may portend trouble for farmers. A new study has found that spring is arriving two weeks ahead of time and many plants are flowering 10 to 20 days earlier than usual, possibly due to global warming.

The report is a warning for Italy's farmers who fear that early germination or fruiting will put their crops at greater risk of frost and that droughts may become a regular problem. "It's obvious to everyone that the climate is changing," said Franco Bruno, a botanist from Rome's Sapienza University, who conducted the research.

He said the findings were in line with longer-term studies of trees which showed Italy's environment is warming. The study, "Map of Spring", commissioned by the Italian government, looked at nine species of trees and flowers to see when they bloom, fruit and produce and shed leaves.

Although the study has only been running for the last two years, the scientists behind it, and Italian policy makers, said it was in line with other evidence that the country was already warming, probably due to global climate change. "We're not climatologists, but we have observed at least five structural effects," said Stefano Masini, of Italian farmers' organisation Coldiretti.

In addition to the early sprouting of cereals, farmers were experiencing greater soil erosion due to warmer, drier weather and vegetable crops like fava beans and asparagus, which usually go to market in May, were already on sale in March, he said.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi has warned farmers to prepare for drought this year after the warm and dry winter. Worldwide, climate change could cause severe food and water shortages for millions of people by 2100, according a draft United Nations report due for release next month.
(By Robin Pomeroy, Planet Ark, 16/03/2007)
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/40892/story.htm