 "Spring, summer, trash, haze? Why Earth’s new seasons should worry us")
In school, we learned about the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. But according to a new study, our planet is now witnessing two more unofficial seasons: haze season and trash season.
These aren’t formal additions to the calendar, but they’re showing up consistently in different parts of the world, especially in countries like India, Indonesia and the US. And climate experts say this emerging trend is a clear sign of the growing human influence on Earth’s natural systems.
So, what exactly are these new so-called seasons? And why are scientists raising the alarm? Here’s a breakdown of what the research reveals.
What is haze season?
Haze season typically shows up between August and October each year and is most noticeable in Southeast Asia. During this period, thick layers of smoke blanket large areas, severely affecting air quality and raising major health concerns.
In India, a similar phenomenon happens every winter when smog covers northern regions, prompting frequent public health warnings. The primary reason behind this seasonal haze is the deliberate burning of fields to clear land for farming.
This practice isn’t limited to India. Countries like Indonesia and Malaysia also report large-scale burn-offs for agricultural purposes, which contribute significantly to the haze.
As researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science noted, “Widespread burning of tropical peatlands in regions of Malaysia and Indonesia is now considered an annual event in equatorial Southeast Asia, impacting the health and livelihoods of millions.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe United States is also seeing its own version of haze season. Over recent summers, the northeastern US has dealt with hazy skies and rising air quality alerts, including in states like New York and New Jersey.
In 2023, smoke from unprecedented wildfires in Canada spread across the Midwest and East Coast, even turning the skies over New York City a deep orange.
Researchers now warn that as wildfire seasons in North America grow longer and more intense, haze season in the US is likely to become more frequent and widespread.
What is trash season?
Trash season is most noticeable in Bali and typically takes place between December and March. It’s during this period that shifting monsoon winds and ocean currents push huge amounts of plastic waste onto the island’s beaches, leaving them buried under piles of rubbish.
The sight of garbage covering entire stretches of beaches has become so routine that many locals can predict exactly when it will begin.
According to the researchers, in Bali, “floating plastic waste, either washed off the land by heavy rainfall or dumped into the oceans, is blown by strong monsoonal winds onto the southern beaches of the island province from December to March.”
And this isn’t just happening in Indonesia. Similar scenes have been reported in places like the Philippines and Thailand. Even the US East Coast experiences something similar, where ocean currents like the Gulf Stream carry floating debris toward shorelines in Florida and the Carolinas, particularly during the summer months.
Traditional seasons are disappearing
The study also points out that some traditional seasons are simply fading away.
In mountain regions like the Andes and the Rocky Mountains, for instance, winter sports seasons are collapsing because there’s just not enough snow anymore.
In northeast England, seabirds like kittiwakes have stopped showing up to breed at their usual times, a change that’s disrupting natural cycles communities have relied on for generations.
Other seasons, such as spring and summer, haven’t vanished but have become unpredictable. Scientists refer to this as ‘arrhythmic’ change, when the rhythm of the seasons is thrown off. That could mean spring arriving too early or summer dragging on longer than usual, causing nature’s usual patterns to fall out of sync.
Across Europe, animals are now beginning their breeding and hibernation cycles weeks earlier than they did just a few decades ago.
In North America and the Pacific, wildfire and hurricane seasons are growing longer, making it harder for people to plan and prepare. Then there are what scientists call ‘syncopated’ seasons. These haven’t disappeared or shifted, they’ve just become more extreme. A good example is Europe’s summer and India’s monsoons.
In these cases, the season hasn’t gone, it’s just been amplified. That’s what makes it syncopated: the familiar seasonal rhythm is still there, but the intensity is higher, and the changes are harder to predict.
With input from agencies
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