With the current global warming situation, the length of four seasons will change, and summers could last for six months by the year 2100, finds a new study.
The study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters looked into the history of climate change in the northern hemisphere from 1952 to 2011.
The researchers used climate models to predict how much the seasons are likely to alter in the near future. They defined summer as the onset of temperatures in the hottest 25 per cent for that period and winter as the onset of the coldest 25 per cent of temperatures.
The results showed that summer has grown from 78 to 95 days in the period while winter has shrunk from 76 to 73 days. Transition seasons also contracted with spring shortening from 124 to 115 days and autumn from 87 to 82 days. The average temperature was also recorded to have changed during this period, causing summer and winter to become warmer.
Seasons that were predictable in the northern hemisphere in the 1950s have now become more extreme and will continue to remain so if the current rate of global warming persists.
If no immediate efforts are taken to mitigate climate change, spring and summer will start a month earlier in 2100 than in 2011, while fall and winter will start half a month later. This will result in the northern hemisphere spending more than half a year in summer, shrinking winter to just over a month.
This seasonal shift can have a massive toll on nature and its inhabitants, including human beings. As the increasing heat will likely cause frequent heatwaves, storms and wildfires, it can have a drastic impact on birds' migration, agriculture and growing of crops, human health, animal behaviour, etc.