USDA Zone Map Changes

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http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/#
It looks like I am now in Zone 7a instead of 6b.

Comments

  1. pensive pumpkinJanuary 28, 2012 at 6:34 PM

    8b? That's new as well. Hmmm. I wonder what THEY'RE smoking?

    ReplyDelete
  2. EmilyJanuary 28, 2012 at 8:39 PM

    hooray! i saw this posted on someone else's blog this morning and noticed the same thing. i haven't looked into this myself but she wrote that the USDA had to delay releasing the new maps a few years because the bush admin didn't want people to think it was evidence of global warming.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FoolishCopJanuary 29, 2012 at 3:33 AM

    In reality though, the USDA wanted a map based on 30 years of data not 16 years. The maker of the 16 year map, Mark Kramer, who runs an meteorological business and serves as an expert witness in weather-related lawsuits (what?!) -- and who obviously has a dog in the race for having *his* map used -- even says you can't make the assumption that the new map is caused by global warming. The map simply measures the coldest night of the year each winter between 1986 and 2001 at weather stations and then averaged them.

    Rich

    ReplyDelete

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