What one Mass. blueberry bush tells scientists about climate change

What one Mass. blueberry bush tells scientists about climate change

Every summer for 141 years, Blue Hill Observatory has recorded the date the first blueberry ripens on a bush that’s grown beside our instruments since 1885. WBUR’s Bianca Garcia visited the observatory to see how that unbroken record is helping scientists track climate change, one berry at a time. At the turn of the 20th century, the first ripe blueberry typically showed up in late June. Today it’s arriving a week earlier on average.

Deputy Chief Observer Amanda Joly and Chief Scientist Michael Iacono walk through the data in the piece, alongside researchers from the USA National Phenology Network and Boston University who use Blue Hill’s records in their own work.