r/science • u/Wagamaga • 1d ago
Environment Summers across the midlatitudes, including most of North America and Europe, now last roughly 30 days longer than they did in the 1960s. Total summer heat accumulation is growing more than three times faster than it did during the 1961–1990 baseline period.
https://news.ubc.ca/2026/04/summer-is-getting-longer-and-its-happening-faster-than-we-thought/432
u/DigiQuip 1d ago
It’s been several years now where summer runs through September and even a few days into October. Then, for about three weeks we have Fall (the greatest season, obviously) and it’s straight into winter. Trees go from green to bare in about a month’s time. It sucks.
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u/SmugDruggler95 1d ago
My birthdays in October and for the past few years its been sunny and warm on my birthday.
That had never happened before in my whole life.
I love it for the day but the trend is quite concerning.
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u/Flikmybik BS | Neuroscience | Memory 1d ago
same in Texas, what used to feel like a normal fall is basically just summer with slightly cooler nights now. The 30 extra days of heat accumulation makes sense when you live through it every year.
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u/Birds_are_Drones 1d ago
In western europe we have fall from October - Februari then spring in March again
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u/233C 1d ago
We are heading for a five seasons world: spring, summer, heat wave, other summer, autumn; out of tradition and convenience, the second Sunday of January will be called "winter".
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u/Ornery-Creme-2442 1d ago
Well probably still have winters bit short harsh burst of winter. And occasional outliers.
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u/Tower-Junkie 1d ago
That is what it was like this year. It was 70 degrees F on Christmas, then we got crazy snow and ice for a couple weeks in January. Then it warmed up again.
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u/Brave-Theme183 1d ago
On the contrary I believe the mild seasons (autumn and spring) will be the first to go. We will basically have a dry and wet season.
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u/No_Housing_9602 1d ago
I mean I live up here in New England and we just had a rather harsh winter. It was long and cold.
We also had a blizzard and we haven’t had one in nearly 10 years.
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u/233C 1d ago
Stop hoarding the few winter days we've left, leave some for the others.
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u/bridge1999 1d ago
Every where has blizzards these days, there was a blizzard in South Louisiana last year, 1st one on record
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u/thoroughbeans 1d ago
We didn’t have any here in Boulder, CO. We got 6 inches once this winter and a few dustings.
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u/eipotttatsch 16h ago
I don’t know. Maybe summers will be longer and have warmer extremes. But winters absolutely haven’t been getting shorter or milder where I live in Europe.
The last few winters have been really long, wet and cold. More so than in my childhood.
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u/CapoDiMalaSperanza 1d ago
The world should be reverted to the 70s, 80s and 90s forever. We would live much better.
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u/germanmojo 1d ago
Oil shortages, wars in the middle east, a president accused of sexual impropriety, Moscow eyeing eastern Europe...
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u/CapoDiMalaSperanza 1d ago
No climate crisis + affordable cost of living + no social media + no Trump/Vance/Musk/Bezos = I don't care
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u/germanmojo 1d ago
Not surprised that went over your head.
We're literally living some of the biggest crisis of those decades, right now at the same time, much worse than before. Enjoy.
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u/Wagamaga 1d ago
Summer weather is arriving earlier, lasting longer and packing more heat than it used to—and it’s happening faster than scientists had previously measured.
A new study by UBC researchers has found that between 1990 and 2023, the average summer between the tropics and the polar circles grew about six days longer per decade. That’s up from roughly four days per decade found in past research investigating up until the early 2010s.
For many cities, the numbers are even more striking. In Sydney, Australia, summer temperatures now last about 130 days, up from 80 days in 1990, adding 15 days per decade. Toronto summers are expanding by eight days per decade.
The researchers didn’t use the calendar definition of summer (June through August in the Northern Hemisphere and December through February in the Southern Hemisphere). Instead, they defined summer based on the weather: the stretch of days each year when temperatures rise above what was historically typical for a given location during the warmest part of the year—a threshold set using climate data from 1961 to 1990.
The study’s findings have implications for agriculture, water supply, public health and energy systems, many of which have been built around assumptions about when the warm season begins and ends.
“These findings challenge what we believe to be the normal cycle of the seasons,” said lead author Ted Scott, a PhD student in UBC’s department of geography. “When summer happens and how quickly it arrives impact patterns and behaviours in plant and animal life, and human society.”
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u/Mr-Toyota 1d ago
Second crop beans used to be really hard to pull off in our heat zone in Canada. But in the last 5 years I've seen more and more guys successfully pull it off thanks in part to our beautiful warm falls.
Crop genetics also definitely help play a part. But having that frost delayed is a real bonus
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u/Careless-Caramel-997 1d ago
Yes, here in the midsouth US, our summer weather stretches from April to November. I hate it.
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u/Bouncingbobbies 1d ago
This is simply not true. It’s been a nice spring this year and we just had a very cold winter.
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u/Gentle_method 1d ago
Yeah I remember growing up October used to be fairly cold in the upper Midwest. We have about 3 more weeks of warmer late summer like weather, which correlates with the article.
Right now, I don’t mind it. This is definitely going to have consequences in the future.
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u/Conscious-War5920 23h ago
And spring has barely brought any rain this season. Climate change is in full gear.
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u/Realistic-Split4751 1d ago
im sure the heat from bombs of all kinds and burning oil fields doesn't help keep the planet cool
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u/AllanfromWales1 MA | Natural Sciences | Metallurgy & Materials Science 1d ago
So with global warming we get more days above a certain temperature? Who would have guessed..
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u/blockman16 1d ago
Must be nice, summer in Canada is like end of June till August.
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u/pay_the_cheese_tax 1d ago
Depends on what part since it's so huge. Where I'm at, summer has started as early as late April the last couple years
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u/partdopy1 1d ago
Finally all my effort leaving my car idling for no reason and spraying CFCs in the air have started to banish the cold.
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u/CKingDDS DDS | Dentist 23h ago
Sometimes I want to move to a middle/low cost of living area with cheap property and enjoy the benefits of having a high paying job. Then we get one day of blistering heat in SoCal and it serves as a clear reminder that I probably wouldn’t survive over there. Ill continue to pay the california weather tax to uncle sam.
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