Slashdot: Japan's Cherry Blossom 'Earliest Peak Since 812'

Japan's Cherry Blossom 'Earliest Peak Since 812'
Published on March 31, 2021 at 09:00AM
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: The cherry blossom season, Japan's traditional sign of spring, peaked at the earliest date since records began 1,200 years ago, research shows. The 2021 season in the city of Kyoto peaked on 26 March, according to data collected by Osaka University. Increasingly early flowerings in recent decades are likely to be as a result of climate change, scientists say. The records from Kyoto go back to 812 AD in imperial court documents and diaries. The previous record there was set in 1409, when the season reached its peak on March 27. "In Kyoto, records of the timing of celebrations of cherry blossom festivals going back to the 9th Century reconstruct the past climate and demonstrate the local increase in temperature associated with global warming and urbanization," according to an earlier paper published in the scientific journal Biological Conservation. Since about 1800, the data suggest the peak date in Kyoto has gradually been moving back from mid-April towards the beginning of the month. This year, the season began in Hiroshima on March 11, eight days earlier than the previous record, which was set in 2004, according to Japan Forward.

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