All the Dirt on Gardening

Today's Garden Column is about the impact of global climate change on gardening in Oklahoma Plan ahead for possibly earlier spring next year Scientists around the world have looked at the evidence and have decided that climate change is real. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses are trapping more heat from the sun and are contributing to rising global temperatures.For Oklahoma, climate change is likely to lead to earlier springs, later falls, shorter winters, more damaging late spring freezes, and longer dry, drought spells. Local impacts will vary and there will still be the natural cycle of drier and wetter years. These are the Oklahoma impacts summed up in the Oklahoma Climatological Survey's statement on Climate Change and its Implications for Oklahoma. Climate change will bring new challenges to Oklahoma gardeners and farmers, but there are ways to meet these challenges. And new approaches can turn these climate challenges into new opportunities. Using water more ef...