Fall is a special time of year in the forests along the eastern seaboard, as trees explode in brilliant shades of red and gold. The air is crisp, the days are still warm, and the turning foliage offers an irresistible riot of color—one that, by one rough estimate, generates as much as $30 billion a year in tourism revenue from Maine to the Carolinas.

“The mountains here in general are gorgeous,” says Larry Deane, a professional photographer who lives in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Asheville, North Carolina. “You combine that with vivid fall colors and it’s just sort of magical.” 

But fall is getting warmer as a result of climate change.

From 2014 to 2021, the Northern Hemisphere