The endangered beauty of cherry blossoms around the world

In many places around the world, cherry trees are blossoming. In cities like Kyoto, Washington, D.C., Stockholm, and Bonn, Germany, this is cause for celebration and festivals. Around 1.5 million tourists are expected to visit the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington. The festival is expected to bring $150 million worth of revenue to the local economy.

Cherry blossom festivals are a national tradition in Japan. Scientists have been recording blooming dates for over 1,000 years, especially in Kyoto. To celebrate this natural phenomenon, masses of people flock to the parks to celebrate, holding parades beneath the blooming buds.

Cherry blossom festivals around the world have been inspired by their Japanese equivalents. Some cherry trees in Washington were even a present from the Japanese government. Here in Bonn, Japanese tourists are pleased to find a piece of their familiar culture in the local flowering of cherry blossoms.

But in many areas around the world, cherry trees are flowering ever earlier. Climate change is causing the untimely arrival of spring. Warmer temperatures are causing cherries in Europe and the United states to bloom 10 to 12 days earlier than in the past. In Japan, cherry blossom festivals are being scheduled as much as 3 weeks earlier than 60 years ago.

Earlier flowering seasons make cherry blossoms more prone to late spring frosts. When temperatures drop below the critical threshold of 27 degrees Fahrenheit (about -2 degrees Celsius), severe damage can be seen on the blossoms. Temperatures lower than 24 degrees Fahrenheit can even cause up to 90 percent of the exposed blossoms to die off - a rebuff for tourists expecting blossom abundance.

The effect that climate change has on cherries through an increased likeliness for cold snaps is most severe for edible cherries. A loss in blossoms equals a loss of possible cherry fruits. Orchard farmers are becoming ever more worried about potential crop failures.

Variations in blooming patterns also impact animals. When warmer temperatures cause animals to wake up from hibernation and insects to hatch earlier, they run the risk of being affected by frost springs. If these animals' food sources, like cherry blossoms, are destroyed during a cold snap, they might die of starvation. Several bird species in New England are threatened because of climate change.