Why do leaves change color in the fall?
View our animated movie to learn more! (Flash Player required) Springtime and plenty of chlorophyll. Each spring leaves contain green, red, orange and yellow pigments. Throughout the summer, the green is dominant due to chlorophyll production. Day length, rainfall and sugar. Many factors influence autumn coloration and the most important being day length, followed by rainfall, sugar accumulations in the leaves, wind, and prolonged periods of cool, bright, sunny autumn weather without a killing frost. The brighter the light during this period, the greater the production of these pigments. Cool autumn days. When the days of autumn are sunny and cool, the nights chilly but not freezing, the brightest colorations usually develop. This is when the production of chlorophyll , which is created by sunlight during photosynthesis, slows down. Autumn colors.
So many people enjoy the various colors produced by the leaves during the fall season. Have you ever stopped and wondered why leaves change color? Most of the leaves we see in the spring and summer are green because the food-making part of the leaf, the chlorophyll, is active. However, leaves do not only have green pigment, they also have yellow and orange pigment. For example, the carotenes and xanthophyll pigments give the orange color to a carrot. Most of the year these other colors are masked or dominated by the great amounts of green coloring. But, in the fall, because of the changes in temperature and the length of daylight, the leaves stop their food-making process. When this happens, the chlorophyll breaks down and the green color disappears. When this happens, the yellow and orange colors become visible. QUICK FACTS ABOUT RECYCLING Americans generate over 208 million tons of waste a year. In other words, over 416,000 pounds of trash each year! There are now more than 7,500 loc
