ABOVE: Researchers use footage of the Tour of Flanders cycling race to study the effects of climate change on plant phenology.
FLEMISH RADIO AND TELEVISION BROADCASTING ORGANIZATION
Pieter De Frenne, an ecologist and cycling fan at the University of Ghent, was watching old footage of the Tour of Flanders—a popular Belgian 260-kilometer race held every April—on the web when something in the background caught his eye. The trees lining the racecourse in the clips from the 1980s were bare. But, he recalled, in footage of the most recent races, they were covered in leaves.
That got him thinking: perhaps archived footage from sporting events such as the Tour of Flanders could provide data on the effects of climate change on trees’ phenology—the timing of leafing and flowering each season. “Video archives can be a very useful tool but have been largely unused until now to study the connection between climate change ...
