The hardiness zone map has been updated for 2012, the first update since 1990. I went from 5B to 6A. Anyone else change zones?
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/
global warming and climate change is just a myth
"Across the country, people will be seeing where there are some changes," says Catherine Woteki, Agriculture undersecretary for research, education and economics.
But she says the changes don't indicate permanent climate change. No section of the country changed more than half a zone, according to Woteki.
She says scientists used the latest complete data, adding they performed an analysis to see if incomplete data from the past five years would require alterations.
"We saw it would not change the map," she says.
The USDA website notes: "Climate changes are usually based on trends in overall average temperatures recorded over 50-100 years. Because the (new map) represents 30-year averages of what are essentially extreme weather events (the coldest temperature of the year), changes in zones are not reliable evidence of whether there has been global warming."
What does these mean for pepper plants? I am a 7a.