Early cherry blossoms blooms Japanese evidence of climate change

Tokyo: Cherry blossoms in Japan are opening and reaching full bloom at a hastened pace this year as a result of a warm spell.

Late March temperatures have surged 4.5 degrees higher than average, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The blossoms, locally known as sakura, are already in full bloom in Tokyo, where temperatures exceeded 20 degrees this week, drawing hundreds of people to the capital's Imperial Palace park to observe the mature clusters of delicate pink flowers.

In parts of the north-eastern Tohoku region, where the season for cherry blossoms typically begins in early to mid-April, onlookers are surprised that the cherry trees have already started flowering.

Read the Melbourne Age story - “Cherry blossoms out early in warm Japan.”