Another species harmed by climate change: Japanese poets

“HOW MANY, many things/they call to mind/these cherry blossoms!” the poet Basho once wrote of Japan’s favourite flower. The blossoms have long provoked reflections on beauty, transience and the unceasing rhythms of the natural world. This year, their annual appearance has many thinking about how those rhythms are changing. The cherry trees in Tokyo began flowering on March 14th, tying the record for the earliest start since the Japan Meteorological Agency began monitoring in 1953. In Kyoto the trees reached full bloom on March 26th, the earliest date in 1,200 years of records. Scientists believe climate change is to blame.