NOAA and APGA Partner to Enhance Climate Change Awareness

Last summer, an innovative climate change cell phone tour/display pilot project took place at Longwood Gardens. This marks the first deliverable in a series of objectives between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and APGA that focuses on educating gardeners and garden enthusiasts about the possible effects of climate change on America’s gardens, landscapes, and green spaces.

Using NOAA climate data, high resolution maps show how changes in average annual minimum temperatures affect climate-related planting zones. This information can help gardeners, landscapers, and farmers identify which plant species will best survive in certain conditions. The exhibit is augmented by a cell-phone recording that explains what the changes in planting zones mean for gardeners.

All APGA member institutions are welcome to download and utilize this material as part of their interpretive experience:

Click here to learn more about the cell phone tour and available signage!

 

NOAA and APGA launched a broad agreement last year regarding climate change programming. It links NOAA’s internationally recognized climate services and APGA’s public gardens, which receive more than seventy million visitors a year. Priorities of the agreement include:

  • Increased climate change education at Public Gardens;
  • Increased community engagement in addressing climate variability and change as part of both short- and long-term community planning and adaptation;
  • Ongoing professional exchanges between NOAA and public garden professionals on climate change issues; and
  • Development of a public clearinghouse for information about climate change and adaptation.

The impacts of global climate change have emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing current and future generations of Americans. APGA has several different initiatives that it is currently developing to position Public Gardens as leaders in climate change information outreach. Stay tuned for more exciting developments on this front!

 

NOAA Product Highlight: 

Regional Snowfall Index
Frost/Freeze Date
Severe Weather Data and Information
Drought Tools