Onset of spring moved up 2.6 days per decade

The onset of spring moved up 2.6 days per decade, according to a recent study. The phenomenon of spring coming earlier is attributed to global warming.

By Kim Bo-eun

The day marking the start of spring has moved up 2.6 days per decade, bringing it some 10 days earlier than it was 37 years ago, a recent study shows.

The start of spring is defined in meteorology as the day where the daily mean temperature reaches 5 degrees Celsius or above and doesn’t fall again.

The study was published in the Korean Geographical Society’s journal last October. It was conducted by Kwon Jae-il, a researcher at the Climate Science Bureau, part of the Korea Meteorological Administration, and Choi Young-eun, a professor at the department of geography at Konkuk University.

The research team analyzed the onset of spring by looking at the daily mean temperatures of 43 locations across the country, excluding Jeju Island, from 1974 to 2011.

The average spring onset was March 11. The earliest spring onset came in 2009, on Feb. 27. The latest was in 1996, when it occurred on March 21.

In general, the onset comes later in higher altitude regions and also in inland regions rather than coastal areas.

The advance of the onset has accelerated since the late 1980s. This is attributed to rapid urbanization and a rise in winter temperatures due to global warming.

Global temperatures have been rising over the past 37 years and the study shows that Korea’s spring onset came earlier in the years that global temperatures rose.

“The timing of seasonal change from winter to spring not only influences the ecosystem but also people’s lives,” said the research team. “By analyzing the factors that affect the onset of spring, we will be able to enhance understanding of the characteristics of climate and be able to apply this in various sectors.”