Climate Change Could Drive 'Devastating' Plant Changes, Forcing Plant Hardiness Levels to Shift North: Plant Pathologist Says

Plants are some of the foundations of the biosphere, a layer of Earth where life exists. The world's flora serves as a source of food across the food chain, making them crucial for the ecosystem. Through photosynthesis, plants can make food which herbivores, omnivores, and even carnivores can benefit from. Yet, one of the most significant benefits of plants is their ability to mitigate climate change and global warming.

Plants absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, where they are trapped and warm the planet by accelerating the greenhouse effect. Despite the known hardiness or endurance possessed by plants, climate change seemed to have taken its toll on the world's greenery. In the United States, "devastating" plant changes affecting plant hardiness levels could be seen in different parts of the country, according to a plant pathologist.

Plant Hardiness Levels

The mentioned plant changes involving plant hardiness levels mean that climate change is "shifting" the areas or zones where plants grow. In the US, this could mean that the country could witness a decrease in plant growth in the south but an increase in its northern regions. The findings are based on the 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plant Hardiness Zone Map, as well as from Matt Kasson, a West Virginia University professor.

In recent years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reported that plants are struggling amid rising carbon dioxide concentrations, an indication of plant defense deterioration. Scientists identified the "unsettling trend" where 86% of land ecosystems worldwide are becoming less efficient when it comes to absorbing the increasing greenhouse gas carbon from the atmosphere.

This phenomenon can also contribute to further global warming.

The findings of scientists show that plants of today find it hard to absorb excessively large amounts of carbon dioxide. In previous research, some of the major causes of the accumulation of carbon and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are fossil fuel burning and industrial emissions; which are in addition to natural greenhouse gas emissions such as those coming from permafrost thawing, plant decomposition, and ocean emissions.

How Do Climate Factors Affect Plants?

Based on multiple studies, climate factors affect plants by impairing its growth and agricultural production, as cited on the website of Science Direct. Climate factors such as temperature and humidity are significant influences on crop yields since it can either cause the death or blossoming of plants, including trees and other vegetation.

Over the decades, different climatic and environmental disasters have impacted plants globally.

Between 2022 and 2023, massive forest loss has been recorded in Brazil and Colombia in South America, where a 36% and 49% decrease in vegetation were seen during this period, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI). Some of the contributing factors to forest loss or deforestation are excessive logging, expanding land use, rampant mining, and industrial-related activities.