Ecology
Increased warmth has also affected living things. The geographic range and timing of reproduction, migration, flowering, and fruiting are changing in many animals and plants around the globe. In the Northern Hemisphere, plants and animals are experiencing longer growing seasons. For example, the Japanese keep very detailed records on the blossoming of their Tokyo cherry trees, so they know they are blooming 5 days earlier on average than they were 50 years ago.
In areas in South America where more rain is falling, soybean yields have increased 38%, with smaller increases of 18% for maize, 13% for wheat, and 12% for sunflowers.
Pasture productivity increased 7% in Argentina. On the other hand, plant diseases also increased and cattle production declined.
For example, researchers have found that a fungus that affects wheat grown in Brazil increases during El Niños when more rain falls and the air is steamier.
Although El Ninõs cause rain in the south of Brazil, they cause extreme drought in the Amazon.
