BBC_Knowledge_Asia_Edition_-_May_2016_

Update

THE LATEST INTELLIGENCE

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5.7°C

6.4°C

5.8°C

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8.0°C

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Spring

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(^) March
Frog
(spa
wn)
Frog^ (tadpoles)
Blackb
ird^ (nes
t^ buildin
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1
10
20
30
25
5
15
1
10
20
25
5
15
1
10
25 30
5
15
1
The answer depends on who you ask. A meteorologist would say 1 March. An
astronomer would answer 20 March. But in nature there is no fixed date – spring
simply begins when trees come into leaf, plants flower, and birds and insects
appear. This data visualisation reveals the date when each natural sign of spring
first appears in the UK, based on observations by hundreds of volunteers for the
Woodland Trust’s Nature’s Calendar Survey. Taking the average dates of
spring events between 1999 and 2015 and comparing them to a more
‘typical’ year (2001) for weather shows how, as the UK climate
warms, the signs of spring are now arriving days or even
weeks earlier than they did.
INFOGRAPHIC BY VALENTINA D’EFILIPPO
Calendar of natural events
First recorded appearance of species or event
Highest daytime temperature
UK average for month (°C)
Definitions of spring
Astronomical and meteorological
WHEN DOES SPRING BEGIN?