This story is republished from BridgeDetroit.
Wacky weather is related to climate change, scientists say, and it may mean some challenges for Detroit’s more than 2,000 urban farmers and gardeners
Last Tuesday in Detroit reached 73 F, breaking the all-time February records going back to the 1800s, according to the National Weather Service.
According to the nonprofit climate science organization Climate Central, climate change made the warmth much more likely, with the weather event Tuesday reaching a “Level 3” on the Climate Shift Index (CSI), a scale that compares the likelihood of temperatures to a world without human activities that create greenhouse gasses.
“A Level 3 CSI means that the heat-trapping gasses added to our atmosphere, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels, made these temperatures in Detroit at least three times more likely,” said Lauren Casey, a meteorologist for Climate Central.
The winter season in Detroit has warmed by slightly more than 5 degrees since the 1970s. Wintertime warming has “cascading effects on human health, such as the lengthening of allergy season, an increase in mosquito days, and unstable lake ice cover – and on local economies that rely on revenue created by winter tourism and recreation,” Casey said.
And it also impacts agriculture.
The farming season is starting earlier, and it’s lasting longer. Since the 1970s, the growing season has extended by nearly a month in Detroit, according to a 2023 report from Climate Central.
Donnie Jones has been farming in Detroit for nearly 15 years. He said the warmer temperatures this year mean farmers can get started earlier in the season.
“We’re ready to go when spring hits, so I’m loving that part,” said Jones, who grows on a two-acre farm on Mayfield St. and sells his produce through a handful of Detroit markets.
But on the other hand, Jones said, the warmer temperatures mean pests will likely be a big issue.
“When it’s not like a real freeze or a real winter, you’re going to have a hard year,” he said.
Jones and other farmers are facing the good and bad of warmer winters and early springs – longer growing seasons but also unpredictable weather events and an increased risk of disease.
Cold winter temperatures reduce the number of fungus and insect populations that infect agricultural production. Without colder temperatures, some pathogens survive that otherwise wouldn’t be able to over a Midwest winter, like rust fungi, according to the Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Ultimately, warmer winters can mean more plant disease resulting in decreased agricultural yield and quality.
“Anything that is like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, all these things are very pest-prone, and people are going to have problems this year for sure,” Jones said.
Naim Edwards, director of the Michigan State University Detroit Partnership for Food, Learning and Innovation, grows over 50 different fruit and nut trees at the University’s site in Detroit. He said the warmer temperatures could reduce the fruit harvest.
“Most fruit and nut trees require a number of chilling hours during the cooler seasons before they can begin growing in the spring,” he said. If they don’t get the requisite chilling, plant buds will form earlier in the season.
“Despite the pleasantness of a spring-like day and seeing trees start to bud, the likelihood that freezing temperatures return is high well into April. These freezing temperatures can damage young plant tissue and kill buds, which may not regenerate until the following growing season,” he said.
And too many days like Tuesday could shortchange early spring crops. “Certain cool season crops may bolt and lose their quality and flavor,” he said.
Against the backdrop of a changing climate in Detroit generally, Edwards said he would advise Detroit growers to diversify their crops to ensure some success, like growing garlic, corn, and
planting fruit trees. And for those who aren’t in a rush, he advised waiting until May to put plants in the ground, no matter how warm it may feel in April.
He’s also thinking about water. Depending on precipitation levels this summer, Edwards said warmer temperatures could increase irrigation needs.
“[Warmer temperatures] can dry out soils and make us more reliant on municipal water or paying for irrigation,” he said.
“One day isn’t awful, but with average temperatures warming, multiple days over 50 degrees during the fall and winter can negatively affect plant growth,” he said.