Henry David Thoreau as global-warming researcher?
As spring officially begins today, America鈥檚 poet laureate of the changing seasons is getting renewed interest for his contributions not only to literature, but modern-day science.
Britain鈥檚 The Guardian newspaper that the journals of Henry David Thoreau have been recruited to glean crucial insights about global warming. Thoreau, a studious amateur naturalist, recorded the date of first spring-time blooms for a wide variety of plants in his native New England. But comparing Thoreau鈥檚 observations with more recent data, Boston University researchers have concluded that today鈥檚 flowers are blooming about 10 days earlier 鈥� powerful evidence that the Earth鈥檚 temperature is rising.
鈥淲e had been searching for historical records for about six months when we learned about Thoreau鈥檚 plant observations,鈥� Richard Primack, a biology professor at Boston University, told The Guardian. 鈥淲e knew right away that they would be incredibly useful for climate change research because they were from 150 years ago, there were so many species included, and they were gathered by Thoreau, who is so famous in the United States for his book, Walden.鈥�
Thoreau was a lively and voluminous journal writer who chronicled a great many topics, and readers can get a good idea of his talents as a diarist in The Journal: 1837-1861, a one-volume softcover abridgment of the journals published by New York Review Books in 2009.
To read the journals is to be reminded that if Thoreau were still around, today鈥檚 first day of spring would probably be noteworthy for him. 鈥淪easons mattered deeply to Thoreau,鈥� the book鈥檚 editor, Damion Searls, tells readers. 鈥淢onths mattered to him too: his first book was organized as a week, and his second, Walden, as a year . . .鈥�
In honor of today鈥檚 official start of spring, here鈥檚 a Thoreau journal passage from 159 years ago today 鈥� March 20, 1853:
鈥淭he peculiarity of to-day is that now first you perceive that dry, warm, summer-presaging scent from dry oak and other leaves, on the sides of hills and ledges. You smell the summer from afar. The warm makes a man young again.鈥�
Fitting sentiments for the first day of spring, 2012.
Danny Heitman, a columnist for The Baton Rouge Advocate, is the author of 鈥淎 Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House.鈥�
