Map may show proof of global warming

[Poiuyt]

USDA shelves plant-hardiness map

By Dan Wilson
Post-Crescent staff writer


APPLETON — A federal plant-hardiness map last updated in 2003 is supposed to show gardeners, landscapers and nursery operators what to plant and where.

But some say the map has become something else: a window on the real-life implications of the global warming debate, which has come to embroil the stately magnolia and many perennial plants that now thrive well north of their former hardiness zones.

At issue is a planned do-over of the 2003 map, which the United States Department of Agriculture ordered but never used. The do-over effectively would mitigate the impact of global warming by including data from the last 30 years rather than the last 13, when temperatures were rising more noticeably.

Because of the warmer temperatures since 1990, the updated-but-shelved map showed a northward movement of the zones roughly 150 to 200 miles.

USDA officials say that shelving the last update and ordering a new map has nothing to do with politics. But critics accuse the agency of caving in to another perceived attempt by the Bush administration to downplay the effects of global warming.

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[thunder35]

1. Mankato looks to be zone 5

any warmer weather is welcome in this state, it's too cold with snow

[thunder35]

2. Cook county MN in zone 5

no way it would be a little warmer than the TC area, maybe you could grow a peach tree?