Indiana Reports Predict Climate Changes In The State

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Two new Indiana climate reports say the state's forests will likely benefit from longer growing seasons, but that the state will also face increased spring flooding and summer droughts.

The reports released Tuesday are part of Purdue University's ongoing Indiana Climate Change Impact Assessment.

Jeffrey Dukes is director of the university's Climate Change Research Center. He tells the Bloomington Herald Times that Indiana's average annual temperature has increased by 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century.

Richard Phillips is an associate professor of biology at Indiana University. He says the increase is expected to continue and intensify.

Phillips says the temperature change may benefit some animal and plant species, such as the silver maple and sycamore. But he also says the changing habitat could be detrimental to other tree species like the American basswood and Eastern white pine.