Britain is suffering its worst drought since the 1970s, with dry weather expected until October. Many parks and lawns are now more straw than grass, but some trees and other plants have responded in a more surprising way: by losing their leaves.
It is likely that this exceptionally dry weather is due to climate change. But are trees turning brown or dropping their leaves because they have lost track of the seasons, and behaving as if it is autumn?
Leaf fall is a carefully controlled process in which the junction between the leaf and the stem is precisely dissolved without damaging surrounding parts of the plant. Given this, you might think that it could only happen now if the trees and other plants are confused.
