"Long Overdue Plant Hardiness Map is a Hothouse"

"The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a long overdue new version of their Plant Hardiness Zone Map yesterday—the first update since 1990."

"How out of date was the 1990 map? It was based on data from 1974 to 1986. That's 26 years ago.

The new map is interactive, which is cool, and based on a much finer data scale than the old one, which is great. And guess what. It shows that things are getting warmer. The USDA managed to pretty much bury that fact in Bureaucratese in their press release ... ."

Julia Whitty reports for Mother Jones January 26, 2012.

SEE ALSO:

"Gardening Map Of Warming U.S. Has Plant Zones Moving North" (The Salt/NPR)

"New Map for What To Plant Reflects Global Warming" (AP)

"NGOs Fill Federal Void on Plant Hardiness Zone Changes" (SEJ TipSheet/ 2006)

"Climate Change Comes To Your Backyard" (The Daily Climate/2009)

Source: Mother Jones, 01/27/2012