WeatherBlog 3 2025/26 | La Foliage and Climate Greening

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La Foliage

Chlorophyll is an organic molecule that enables plants on our planet to photosynthesize. Chlorophyll absorbs solar radiation in the red and blue wavelengths and reflects green light, which is why plants and leaves appear green. In autumn, trees remove the chlorophyll from their leaves and they begin to turn reddish and yellow: la foliage. This process is triggered by the shortening of the photoperiod and falling temperatures. At the same time, the trees form their buds, which blossom in spring. The Alpine region, at least on the southern side, has long been dominated by subtropical air masses, which allow the foliage to shine in all its glory. In the current weather conditions, we highly recommend long walks in the forest, roasted chestnuts and hot tea.

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Absorption spectrum chlorophyll

By Daniele Pugliesi - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4709406

Atmospheric River

The high pressure influence will remain in place until the weekend. Then it gets exciting. A large-scale area of low pressure is currently rotating off the coast of Ireland. While the Alps are still under the influence of high pressure due to the resulting south-westerly flow, an atmospheric river stretches from the Canary Islands along the Portuguese coast to the UK. You can find out more in SnowChase 06 2024/25 and WeatherBlog 16 2022/23. What interests us most right now is that it is carrying a lot of water with it.

According to PowderGuide weather, total precipitation of up to 200 mm is expected in northern Portugal and Spain until Sunday. At the weekend, humid air masses will also reach the western and southern side of the Alps, where precipitation will occur due to accumulation. Due to the southerly flow, however, the snow line will be around 2,500 m.

A cold snap could occur at the beginning of next week due to a north-westerly flow. Emphasis on could. The ENS runs of the models still disagree on what will happen. However, there is a chance that the moist air masses north of the Alps will lead to heavy snowfall.

We still recommend making offerings at Ullr's altar. PowderAlert 02 is definitely coming!

An atmospheric river transports humid air from the subtropics to the Iberian coast.

PG-Wetter

ICON-EU

Climate Warming = Climate Greening

The review article by Piao et al, 2020 serves as the basis for the following. Global warming is changing the biosphere in various ways. On the one hand, vegetation periods are shifting and expanding polewards and, of course, upwards to higher mountain regions, simply because it is getting warmer. On the other hand, photosynthesis requires carbon dioxide, which mankind is constantly accumulating in the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. In fact, the optimum has not yet been reached here, and the higher CO2 content acts like a fertilizer for all plants. Together with other factors, this results in the greening of our (blue) planet, which has been a solid reality for several decades thanks to satellite observations of the leaf area index. This also means that biomass and the carbon stored in it are increasing and the energy balance on the surface is also being "cooled". Ultimately, climate greening is a negative feedback that mitigates global warming. Trees are therefore not only beautiful, but also good for the climate.