Climate change: Trees grow differently as planet warms

Over the last 200 years the temperature of our planet has warmed by 1.1C.

Scientists already have concerns about how this will affect our health, but what about other parts of nature?

Thanks to detailed notes left by a farmer in Ohio over 100 years ago, researchers suggest a warmer climate has led to changes in how trees grow.

It's not yet known what sort of impact this could have for trees or the planet in the future.

The study showed that leaves stayed on trees about 15% longer than they did a century ago

Between 1883 and 1912, a farmer called Thomas Mikesell made detailed notes on his local trees and how they grew each season.

He also noted down how much it rained and what the temperature was in his home town on Wauseon, Ohio, each day.

Scientists from Ohio State University compared these notes with more recent observations between 2010 and 2014.

Some species now keep their leaf colour longer into the Autumn due to warmer temperatures

Seven different species of hardwood tree were monitored by Professor Kellen Calinger-Yoak who noticed leaves stayed on the trees for around 15% longer than back in the 19th century.

She said: "Things are not the way they used to be - they are profoundly different."

"An entire month of growing season extension is huge when we're talking about a pretty short period of time for those changes to be expressed."

Some species kept their leaf colour longer into the Autumn whereas other species budded early in the spring.