How climate change is impacting North Carolina's fall leaves

• The window for viewing fall colors is potentially shrinking and the vibrancy of the leaves may be dulling over time. • North Carolina's diverse elevation gives it one of the longest fall color seasons in the country.

Watching the leaves change in Western North Carolina and then slowly following the migration of the collage of colors toward the coast is a time-honored tradition in the Tar Heel State.

But climate change and the impacts it's having on the environment, especially warming temperatures and longer periods of dry weather, are reshaping the state's fall colors .

The window to see the rich tapestry of brilliant leaves is potentially shrinking, and the natural show put on annually by Mother Nature might be getting a bit duller.

While some years might see a normal display of d