Cherry blossoms already out in Ueno

...wait for the cold snap to kick in, should be around the end of the month and last most of March like it usually does!
Bloody cherry blossoms - bah humbug!

 

Feb is peak snow dumping season.. whats going on? I'v e never had it this warm at this time of year in Japan before. we should be seeing snow on the ground in central Tokyo at least 3-4 days in winter.

 

Is the world heating up or what, or is it just temporary blip in weather patterns ??

 

in early spring, as it usually does, or if it doesn't snow at all in Tokyo this winter, we can safely say that Global Warming is under way here in Japan, and Al Gore can take that to the bank, as he surely will with ticket sales of "An Inconvenient Truth." Perhaps we should make a film called "An Inconvenient Hanami Season."

 

Both. Can you imagine what it will be like in 50 years. With trees like this programmed to respond to minutes changes in temperature, they may not blossom at all.

 

I'll drink to that!

 

With trees like this programmed to respond to minutes changes in temperature, they may not blossom at all.

Fifty years from now, they'll be holding hanami parties under stalks of seaweed.

 

fataly flawed...........

 

I want to know how this compares to last year and the average through the years!

 

and cherry blossoms are blooming, we're in the middle of winter, but the global warming may in fact be an issue.

 

Global Warming + El Nino = February Sakura?

 

Actually this is part of a global phenomenon, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, (where more land mass = more solar energy absorption = more heating) whereby many different species (from plants, through insects, all the way to mammals & birds) are changing their breeding patterns to match global climate change.

12 out of the last 13 years have been the hottest EVER recorded, year on year.

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) published their new report just this month.
http://media.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/av/dn11088D1.pdf

It is ratified by over 2500 eminent scientists and 133 governments and states among other things that there is unequivocal global warming and it is caused by humans.

Check this site for further information.
http://environment.newscientist.com/

If you just want a quick visual of what's happening to the Arctic (30% of the sea ice melted over the last 30 years) you can go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BnS1Ze7pP8

Scary but true. And you only have to believe your eyes.

 

So what? WHo cares about this non-story...

 

As for global warming, the University of California went to Antarctica to study the ice loss in the 80s and ended up studying the destruction of plankton and effect on sealife instead because the icepack was THICKENING where they were.

80 to 90% of the world's ice is in Antarctica, and most of that is thickening, a little fact that keeps slipping past the global warming guys (like many others).

The temp variations are regional (eg most of Arctic heating up, most of antartcica cooling down), and if Tokyo is in a heating region, then the urban heat island effect isn't going to help. The Sakuras are doomed. Need more greenery around town (and on roofs).

 

Average bloom date for Tokyo is March 28th, with last year being March 21st, according to japan-guide.com Has anybody staked out the good Hanami spots at Ueno Park yet?

This is only my 4th winter in Japan, but it's the first that I haven't seen any snow at all.