"Why Do" Wednesday - Why Do Leaves Change Color In Fall?

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This is one of the most beautiful things on earth!  When I was going to college there was a canyon called Sardine Canyon near by that had all kinds of colors.  It was one of the most most beautiful things to see.


So why do these leaves change from green to all these amazing colors?  Well to answer that, lets first discuss why leaves are green.  The purpose of tree leaves are to gather nutrients for the tree.  They do this by absorbing CO2 from the air and gathering sunlight to change that CO2 and water into carbohydrates to feed the tree.

The thing that makes this possible is called chlorophyll, a green pigment that does the magic of absorbing sunlight and gathering all that energy.  But along with this pigment, the leaves also have other pigments that range in colors from orange, yellow purple, red etc... These are masked in the spring and summer by the green chlorophyll.  When the days get shorter and colder, the green stuff dies off and the others start showing through until they all eventually die out and you are left with just plain old dead brown.

Watching this transformation is something that is so amazing and beautiful.  Such an amazing wonder of nature.  Where I live now in the desert, I don't get to see this anymore, but was one of my favorite times of year.  I will just need to travel to locations now to behold the wonder of fall colors.

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