Research at Lakehead finds groundhog predictions are not reliable

Groundhogs are no more accurate at predicting the arrival of spring than flipping a coin, says a new publication from Lakehead University. Lakehead researcher Dr Michael Rennie and his students worked on a lab project which included the comprehensive evaluation of all groundhog predictions available and compared them with the bloom date of a flower found in all studied regions. The project gave students the opportunity to hone their collaborative research skills and learn about the publication process. The students found that Canadian and American groundhogs were equally good at their job. Additionally, Rennie said that one American groundhog – Punxsutawney Phil – appeared to be a proponent of climate change given that he had a statistically significant propensity to predict early springs. “Maybe he’s trying to get through to the folks who don’t seem to want to listen to climate scientists,” said Rennie. Lakehead Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.

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