In New England, fading fall colors blamed on climate change

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Some people believe the fall foliage is not as brilliant as it used to be.

And they’re blaming global warming for the lackluster leaves.

University of Vermont plant biologist Tom Vogelmann, says the fall colors are nothing like they used to be.

He and others say autumn has become too warm to elicit New England’s richest colors.

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in Burlington have run above the 30-year average in every September and October for the past four years, except for October 2004, when they were 0.2 degrees below average.

Cold nights are needed to hasten the decline of the green chlorophyll in trees.

And warmer winters have been friendly to fungi that attack some trees, particularly the red and sugar maples that have historically provided the most dazzling colors.

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