Usually when I think about the connection between color and revenue my mind is on a commercial brand or product and in that case the ability to maintain a consistent color is dependent on issues around technology, printing and color standards.
Today I was reading about how biologists at the University of Vermont’s Proctor Maple Research Center are thinking about color and revenue from a different perspective. They are studying how temperature affects the development of autumn colors and whether the warming climate could mute them, prolong the foliage viewing season or delay it.
The three-week period of peak foliage color – usually from the end of September to mid-October – is among the busiest of the year for Vermont tourism, bringing in an estimated $364 million, according to state officials. It’s also an important time for tourism in the other New England states.
“It’s a critical season for us,” said Allison Truckle, owner of Tucker Hill Inn, in Waitsfield, which does about 40 percent of its business in autumn.
With figures like that you can imagine the angst that business owners and residents in New England must have when they think that their primary product– Fall foliage –is being impacted in a way that could impact their revenue and ultimately their lifestyle.
It also begs us to think about the impact of the study. If the findings point to diminishing colors will some want to use science to produce the explosion of autumnal colors through scientific means? Will climate change result in another area in the country becoming the epicenter of leaf peeping? Could their be benefits from what seems to be a negative?
Climate change was included as an influence in my recent color forecasts but I’m thinking of the impact in a slightly different way.
Read the full story at physorg.com…
A related article that might be of interest is an explanation of why leaves change color from the National Forest Service
