Examples include \u201chaze seasons\u201d in the northern<\/a> and equatorial nations of south-east Asia<\/a>, when the sky is filled with smoke for several weeks. This is caused by widespread burning<\/a> of vegetation to clear forests and make way for agriculture during particularly dry times of year. <\/p>\n Or there is the annual \u201ctrash season\u201d, during which tidal patterns bring plastic to the shores of Bali<\/a>, Indonesia, between November and March. <\/p>\n Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox.<\/strong> Sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a> to receive all The Conversation UK\u2019s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.<\/p>\n At the same time, some seasons are disappearing altogether, with profound consequences for ecosystems and cultures. These extinct seasons can encompass drastically altered or terminated migratory animal behaviour, such as the decline of seabird breeding seasons<\/a> in northern England. <\/p>\n Climate change is also calling time on traditional winter sport seasons<\/a> by making snow scarcer in alpine regions.<\/p>\n Ski resorts increasingly rely on artificial snow to stay open. Nature\u2019s new rhythms<\/p>\n Perhaps more common are \u201csyncopated seasons\u201d. The changes are akin to new emphases on beats or off-beats in familiar music that capture the listener\u2019s attention. <\/p>\n Syncopated seasons include hotter summers and milder winters<\/a> in temperate climates, with increasingly frequent and severe extreme<\/a> weather<\/a> that exposes more people and ecosystems to stress.<\/p>\n The timings of key seasonal events, like when leaves fall or certain migratory species arrive, are becoming more unpredictable. We coined the term \u201carrhythmic seasons\u201d, a concept borrowed from cardiology, to refer to abnormal rhythms which include earlier springs or breeding seasons<\/a>, longer summers or growing seasons<\/a>, and shorter winters or hibernating seasons<\/a>.<\/p>\n Changing seasonal patterns throw the interdependent life cycles of plants and animals out of sync with each other, and disrupt the communities that are economically, socially and culturally dependent on them.<\/p>\n In northern Thailand, human activity has reshaped nature\u2019s rhythms and affected the supply of water<\/a> and food<\/a> in turn. Communities along the Mekong river\u2019s tributaries have relied on the seasonal flow of rivers to fish and farm for generations. <\/p>\n At first, upstream dams disrupted these cycles by blocking fish migration and preventing the accumulation of sediment that farms need for soil. More recently, climate change has shifted rainfall patterns and made dry seasons longer and rainy seasons shorter but more intense, bringing fires and further uncertainty to farmers.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s rethink time<\/p>\n How we react to changing seasonal patterns can either worsen or improve environmental conditions. In south-east Asia, public awareness of the \u201chaze season\u201d<\/a> has led to better forecasting, the installation of air filters in homes and the establishment of public health initiatives. <\/p>\n Haze season in Indonesia, October 2019. These efforts help communities adapt. But if society only uses adaptive fixes like these, it can make the haze worse over time by failing to tackle its root causes. By recognising this new season, societies might normalise the recurrence of haze and isolate anyone who demands the government and businesses deal with deforestation and burning.<\/p>\n Powerful institutions like these shape narratives about seasonal crises to minimise their responsibility and shift blame elsewhere. Understanding these dynamics is crucial to fostering accountability and ensuring fair responses.<\/p>\n The shifting seasons require us to rethink our relationship with time and the environment. Today, most of us think about time in terms of days, hours and minutes, which is a globalised standard used everywhere from smartphones to train timetables. But this way of keeping time forgets older and more local ways of understanding time \u2013 those that are shaped by natural rhythms, such as the arrival of the rainy season, or solar and lunar cycles, rooted in the lives and cultures of different communities.<\/p>\n Diverse perspectives, especially those from Indigenous knowledge systems, can enhance our ability to respond to environmental changes. Integrating alternative time-keeping methods into mainstream practices could foster fairer and more effective solutions to environmental problems.<\/p>\n Seasons are more than just divisions of time \u2013 they connect us with nature. Finding synchrony with changing seasonal rhythms is essential for building a sustainable future.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t have time to read about climate change as much as you\u2019d like?<\/strong>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1753233311_880_file-20250411-62-hhstbi.png\")
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Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.<\/a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation\u2019s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 45,000+ readers who\u2019ve subscribed so far.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Throughout history, people have viewed seasons as relatively stable, recurrent blocks of time that neatly align farming, cultural…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":84631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[746,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-84630","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114899905593397483","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}