ITHACA, N.Y. -- Winters are getting warmer and some crops are starting to bloom earlier. Climate change is already upon us, but changes are not uniform across regions or species. The potential impact on farmers is both positive and negative and also has important implications for home gardeners and landscape managers.

To review the evidence of climate change in the Northeast and to discuss adaptation strategies for the potential impact on farming, gardens and the dairy industry, researchers, extension educators and interested citizens will gather for a one-day symposium on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at the Ramada Inn, Ithaca. The symposium, Climate Change and Northeast Agriculture: Developing an Education Outreach Agenda, costs $10 and is open to the public.

"The most recent report of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that climate change is here but that its effects will vary from region to region and from species to species," says David Wolfe, Cornell professor of horticulture and one of the symposium's organizers. He notes, for example, that this past summer was unusually wet in the Northeast, while drought conditions continued in much of the West. The Northeast's average annual temperature has increased by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900, he says, with winters (December to February) showing the greatest rate of warming with an average temperature increase of almost 3 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Plants such as lilacs, apples and grapes in the Northeast are blooming up to a week earlier," Wolfe says. "Climate change and global warming could also favor some invasive species and will alter important interactions between plants and pollinators, insect pests, diseases and weeds."

The speakers will include: climatologists Art Degaetano of Cornell and Cameron Wake of the Climate Change Research Center at the University of New Hampshire discussing greenhouse gases and climate change in the Northeast; plant physiologist Lewis Ziska of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, discussing weed ecology and global climate; Wolfe giving an impact assessment for Northeast agriculture and farmer adaptation strategies; Cornell crop and soil scientist Jenifer Wightman covering energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration in terms of a New York dairy case study; Timothy Volk of the State University of New York-Environmental Science and Forestry talking about biomass fuels and other opportunities for farmers in the energy marketplace; and Vern Grubinger, director of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Vermont, talking about how to incorporate climate change issues into extension programs.

Prompting this symposium is the noticeable shift in first-bloom dates of plants and other evidence of climate change in the Northeast, says Wolfe. He points out that climate change will bring new risks and opportunities for farmers in the region, and it is the responsibility of scientists and extension educators to prepare farmers for these new challenges.

The symposium is sponsored by Cornell Cooperative Extension. To register, contact Joan Lewis at JL154@cornell.edu or by telephone at (607) 255-2118.

Related World Wide Web sites: The following sites provide additional information on this news release. Some might not be part of the Cornell University community, and Cornell has no control over their content or availability.

David Wolfe: http://www.hort.cornell.edu/wolfe/

• Impacts of Climate Change on Horticulture: Proceedings from 2003 Symposium:

  http://www.hort.cornell.edu/wolfe/cchortproc.pdf