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Are daffodils in bloom earlier? Does cherry blossom appear earlier these days? And are distinct, new "seasons" starting to appear too? New University of York research is examining changing seasons and what this means for how we approach climate change.

Researchers say the findings will help us have a better understanding of the seasons and our shared collective memory of when things happen in the year and will help communities become more resilient to climate change.

Exploring seasonality

Dr. Felicia Liu's research is exploring seasonality and how this shared, collective understanding of the rhythms of the year—its traditions and its weather—can help give people meaning.

Her research is also exploring the tangible and real world impacts of how we perceive the seasons changing. Dr. Liu's research is exploring how a different understanding of when summer starts, for example, could shape the tourism industry.

Economic impacts

Dr. Liu's research, "Seasons of the Anthropocene: politicization of the haze season in Southeast Asia," has been in the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography.

It takes a specific focus on a new "haze season" that has emerged in the public discourse in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. One example of how an idea of a shared season is changing the way we see the world around us.

Haze season

Dr. Liu explained, "The way we understand the 'haze season' signifies societal acknowledgment of recurring and hazardous air pollution episodes caused by the widespread burning of tropical peatlands. My research examines the discursive framing of haze as 'seasonal.' My research shows that these words have a power around our collective understanding. It's not just semantic, it changes the entire way we think about climate change."

The research takes a comprehensive discourse analysis of news media and government, corporate and NGO documents. It identifies and analyzes three storylines that give meaning and value to the "haze season."

Shifting policy

University Malaya in Kuala Lumpur is leading the research, with co-authors from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Dr. Liu added, "Firstly people said that the haze season keeps coming back. Secondly they acknowledged its passing and reasoned it would eventually go away, and thus no action needs to be taken. And thirdly the haze season has become 'normal.' This research is timely and important because politicians and policymakers are using these interpretations of haze and to meet their own objectives."

Underlying politics

She explained, "Our study highlights the importance of interrogating the underlying politics involved in constructing 'seasons.'

"The semantic construction and popularization of 'seasonality' for anthropogenic environmental events can be a double-edged sword, with familiarity enhancing social preparedness for environmental change events, while normalization can lead to desensitization and inertia towards mitigation."

Livable futures

"Untangling the divergent pathways of politicizing Anthropocene seasonalities is key to determining whether and how societies can build a 'livable future.'"

The research is important for people here in Yorkshire too, who can sense a change in seasons. This is because when seasons change, it affects farming, hunting and how people spend their time.

Cultural understanding

Dr. Liu explained these shifts can be profound. She said, "If our seasons here are becoming more irregular, then we might start to experience longer summers and shorter, wetter winters. This is not about the science of our climate changing, it is more about how our shared understanding gives meaning to these changes, because it becomes ingrained into our culture."