Mild Winter, Early Spring Causing Problems

(NECN: Kristen Doucet) - For the first time in years, the Tower Hill Botanic Garden's annual daffodil show has been canceled.

Public relations director Michael Arnum says the mild winter and early spring are to blame.

“The main issue is that the daffodils will be finished flowering by the times we had originally planned to have the show,” he says.

Arnum says all types of flowers and plants have bloomed weeks ahead of schedule this year.

He says the lack of water has had an impact.

“Just looking at pictures from this year in comparison to last year i noticed things look much more brown this year at this point than it did last year,” Arnum says.

Professor of environmental science at Clark University Jennie Stephens says she credits the rising temperatures to global warming.

She says it's undeniably linked to human activity.

“Trends we have seen this spring are ref6lecting a much larger set of trends in terms of climates changing, that the world has been observing and its manifesting itself differently in different ways and places,” Stephens says.

Massachusetts wild life's John O'Leary says data shows for the last 50 years temperature are getting warmer faster.

He says because of this the state is seeing an appearance of birds that they normally don't see.

“We are seeing Carolina Rens beginning to show up in the state, it's an example we suspect although it’s hard to prove any one factor is causing it but it's a southern species that we see beginning to creep into Massachusetts,” O’Leary says.

He says the abnormal spring could have a negative impact on animals.

O’Leary says if frost occurs in the next few weeks it could affect their food supply.

“Even though March was warm and we have these flowers coming out, there is still plenty of opportunity for cold temperatures to occur that would result in no fruit being produced.”

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