BEAUTIFUL NOW BUT MADNESS SOON

Cherry blossoms are some of the most beautiful things about early spring. This year, they are blooming about 2 weeks early, according to scientific forecasts. And while it might bring us an early dose of beautiful pink joy, it is a red alert.

Phenology is the timing of life events in plants and animals. Cherry trees, along with other plants and animals rely on temperatures to regulate their biological clocks. Global warming is wreaking havoc on them all over the world.

In Washington DC, one of the most beautiful cherry blossom capitals of the world, The National Park Service predicts cherry trees will be at their peak blossoming from March 14-17, the earliest peak on record. As a result, the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival has moved its start date from March 20 to March 15.

The month-long celebration marks the 1912 gift from Tokyo of 3,000 cherry trees to Washington DC.

Since 1946, weather station measurements across Washington DC have shown the region experiencing a 1.6℉ per century increase in temperatures, double the global rate.

Peak bloom, which can last from 4 to 10 days, is reached when 70% of the blossoms are open on the cherry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin.

Climate change is also creating mismatches between when flowers bloom and when bees and butterflies and other pollinators mature and are ready to pollinate.

In 2016, the National Park Service put out this video on the topic of how climate change affects Washington DC’s cherry blossoms.

It’s part of a series of videos they’ve produced on how climate change affects individual national parks. But this is just one tip of one melting iceberg.

It’s madness. Although unseasonably warm weather may make us feel happier, it also affects pollen levels and insect populations and puts crops at risk from late spring frosts. And, of course climate change has many other impacts on our environment, health, and planet.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by KGS Imaging. “Cherry One-Time.”
2. Image: nubobo. Untitled.
3. Image: by Katie Harbath. “Cherry Blossoms.”
4. Image: by Hatoriz Kwansiripat. “Cherry Blossom.”
5. Image: by Theophilos Papadopoulos. “Spring Flights.”
6. Image: by Nicolas Raymond. “Washington DC. Cherry Blossoms.”
7. Image: by Gabriel González. Untitled.
8. Image: Courtesy of Roanoke College. “Spring has Sprung.”
9. Image: by Ana Gasston. “Cherry Blossom.”
10. Image: by Joshua Siniscal. “Branch Brook Park. Newark, NJ.”
11. Image: by Aindriú H. “Cherry Blossom.”
12. Image: by Takashi Hososhima. “Full bloom softly.”
13. Image: by BN App - Download now!
14. Image: by Rosan Nepal. “Home Is Where the Heart Is.”