WASHINGTON: (Kyodo) Cherry blossoms are reaching their peak bloom date this season around five days earlier due to global warming near Potomac River here.
According to US Environmental Protection Agency, since 90 years they used to bloom after their peak bloom date, officials said yesterday.
While the peak bloom varies from year to year, the date for the average year has moved up, the agency said.
The schedule of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which draws more than 1.5 million visitors every year, could in the future be affected as a result, it added.
The peak bloom date is defined as the day 70 percent of blossoms are in full bloom, according to the EPA.
Cherry blossoms in the U.S. capital got their start from saplings sent from Tokyo in 1912, with approximately 3,800 planted around the Tidal Basin.
While the average peak bloom date during the past 90-odd years is April 4, it has become unexceptional that the peak comes in March since the start of the 1990s.
This year’s peak, however, fell on April 10 due to the effects of an extremely cold winter in the eastern United States. (Kyodo)–PTI
