Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
After nearly a week of temperatures in the mid-20s Celsius, Czechs are having to put their winter coats back on as the weather dips below freezing. But the sudden change doesn’t only impact our clothing choice – it has an even more detrimental effect on the crops that have begun to grow and respond to the warm temperatures. To understand more, I spoke with Miroslav Havránek, a researcher from the Charles University Environment Centre.
“If you think about it in the bigger picture, the impact will be a loss of crops and yields. The trees that had already started to bloom – like cherries and peaches. Some of these trees will have lower yields, and in some extreme cases, lose their production completely. Other impacts could be the stunting of growth, which would also cause smaller yields. It’s very unfortunate, because we had a very warm February and part of March, and nature started to react to it like it was real spring. Now we are getting temperatures that are below zero, and freezing temperatures are always going to harm crops.”
See the rest here.
Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt