Hey everyone,
I was wondering if anyone could explain to me like I’m five why leaves change color in the fall. I know it has something to do with the temperature and the amount of sunlight, but I’m not sure how that makes the leaves turn red, yellow, and orange.
Thanks in advance for any explanations!
In: 11
Deciduous trees undertake a form of hibernation during winter.
Big, flat green leaves are great in the summer as they can absorb a lot of light to provide energy for the tree. In the winter however those same leaves become a handicap – the shorter days and colder sun means there isn’t as much light to absorb, and they start to be at risk of damage from cold temperatures and freezing.
So the trees essentially hibernate – they stop trying to grow their leaves and let them die and fall off so they can hunker down and save their energy to regrow in the spring.
The leaves turn brown because they die – the chlorophyll that creates the bright green colour stops being grown and maintained, and turns brown, then once the leaf has died off completely and no longer helps the tree, it falls off.
Not all trees do this however – in places close to the equator where it is always reasonably warm, trees will stay green and leafy year round, with leaves constantly falling off and being replaced through the year.
In more northern climates we also have evergreen trees like the pine that have adapted to the cold weather – rather than large, flat, cold susceptible leaves, they have much smaller and thinner needles that can better survive the child and stay green year round.
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