World’s Warming Winters Are Ending Long Before Spring Begins

The meteorological observatory atop Great Blue Hill in Milton, Mass., has ticked off every degree for every day since 1885. In the era before balloons, forecasters launched kites from the windswept summit to capture the secrets of the atmosphere. Now they rely on thermometers and other sensors to chart the gradual, devastating warming of Massachusetts, my home state.

The scientists need instruments to do that. I just have to look up at the oaks and maples where a northern cardinal flits among the branches in the middle of winter. This beautiful bird is not supposed to be here, not in February or in March or—actually, very often at any time of the year. The same goes for the tufted titmouse, red-bellied woodpecker, and Carolina wren.