Georgia Gazette Thursday, July 2, 2009

Join host John Sepulvado tonight for Georgia Gazette. On tonight's show … A major state university accused of anti-Muslim bias… the details. Reversing the childhood obesity trend in the South…growing gardens to instill healthy habits. And are you the winner of a free pass to state parks? Tune in tonight to Georgia Gazette at 6, 7 in Athens, re-broadcast at 11, hear our show any time at www.gpb.org/georgiagazette, and download a free podcast on iTunes.

Click the photo above for the entire series on Childhood Obesity and to view the slide show on today's report from Hancock County.

Environmentalists urge gardeners to adjust to global warming

The National Wildlife Federation, Environment Georgia and the Garden Club of Georgia have released "The Gardener's Guide to Global Warming."

The report is based on evidence showing many of Georgia’s common plants won't be so common in the next century, if climate change continues at its current pace.

Georgia's climate is becoming more like that of Florida, and, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, wildfires, droughts, and intense hurricanes will become more common nationwide.

The guide recommends that gardeners plan for these trends. For example, the federation's Sue Sturges says, Georgia will need a new state tree to replace the live oak.

"If I was a developer building a new development, I would not be planting the oaks right now," Sturges says. "I'd be choosing other trees in their place because the oaks are going to die out. It’s inevitable."

Sturges says magnolias will do well in Georgia's changing climate. She also recommends that the loblolly pines now burning in southeastern Georgia wildfires be replaced by hardier longleaf pines.