TOKYO — Japan’s cherry trees are reaching full bloom in record time this year, the national weather agency has said, linking the early sakura season to the world’s warming climate.
In the ancient capital of Kyoto, cherry blossoms hit their peak on March 26 — 10 days sooner than average and the earliest since the government started taking records in 1953.
“Our studies have shown that the start of cherry blossom season is closely linked with the average temperature in February and March,” Shunji Ambe, a Japan Meteorological Agency official, told AFP.
“Our observations of plant life show that spring phenomena (such as cherry and plum blossoms) tend to take place earlier, whi…
Keep on reading: Japan sees earliest cherry blossoms on record as climate warms