A recent NASA map shows that spring is arriving earlier each year.

Climate change is altering the planet’s seasons. Winters are becoming shorter, while the warmth of spring is making an earlier appearance each year, disrupting natural events like animal migrations and the blossoming of new plant life. A series of graphics shared by Flowing Data highlights how much sooner leaves are appearing in parts of the U.S., as well as how much faster they are reaching full bloom.

The data comes from a 2016 study focused on U.S. national parks, meaning the maps reflect seasonal changes within the park system. However, with so many parks across the country, the maps provide a solid view of how climate change is influencing the timing of spring nationwide. The green map illustrates the variation in the arrival of the first leaves, while the purple map shows when the first blooms appear.

Around 75 percent of the 276 parks examined in the study have been seeing earlier springs, with half of them recording the earliest springs in 112 years. In Olympic National Park, Washington, the first leaves are now emerging 23 days earlier than a century ago, while at the Grand Canyon, they are appearing around 11 days sooner. Parks in the Sierras and Utah are noticing a 5 to 10-day advance in leaf emergence, similar to areas along the Appalachian Trail. However, some parks, especially in the South, are experiencing later springs, as indicated by dark gray areas on the graphic.

The locations witnessing earlier blooms aren't always the same as those seeing early leaves. For instance, the Appalachian Trail is blooming sooner, even though the first leaves have not appeared any earlier. On the other hand, places like Olympic National Park are experiencing both earlier leaves and blooms compared to past years.

“Shifts in leaf and bloom timings have significant consequences for nature,” said John Gross, a National Park Service ecologist, in the Earth Observatory’s blog. “Species such as pollinators, migratory birds, hibernating animals, elk, and caribou rely on food sources that must be available at the right time.” When temperatures get out of sync with the usual seasonal patterns, these species are adversely affected.