Beneath all of the joyous occasions marked under the full bloom of the cherry blossom trees [...] lies a deeper problem of climate change.
With the first bloom of cherry blossoms, also comes the beginning of the semester and the start of school life for many new students. For Japan this season is more synonymous as the hanami (花見) season. Hanami is a traditional Japanese custom of flower viewing, mostly referring to cherry blossoms. Beneath all of the joyous occasions marked under the full bloom of the cherry blossom trees, however, lies a deeper problem of climate change.
Last year, cherry blossoms were recorded to reach bloom the soonest in history. This year, while not as early as last year, is also facing the same problem of early blossoms. This phenomenon occurs due to the cherry blossom trees' response to the progressively warmer weather. The bloom is now weeks earlier than it was in the last decade.
It is not just Japan that faces this problem, the cherry blossoms in Washington DC were also recorded to bloom earlier than they should have. This highlights just how much climate change has affected weather all across the globe.
The threat to the longstanding tradition of hanami isn’t the only problem that Japan has to face if the temperature continues to rise. As an island nation, Japan is very vulnerable towards any ocean warming. As for now, the Japanese seas are 1.7 degrees warmer than they were a century ago, with this change in ocean temperature comes threats of more powerful typhoons and depletion of marine wildlife amongst many other things.
Some actions had been taken as a countermeasure towards climate change. For instance, the Climate Change Adaptation Act, passed by Japan's National Diet in June 2018, which requires local governments and corporations to cut greenhouse gas emissions. When Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in 2020 that Japan will bring carbon emissions to zero by 2050, many people were taken aback. It is questionable if those vows can be met without any major changes to the people’s lifestyle.
In any case, many people have ignored such warnings and gone to the parks to enjoy the bloom of cherry blossoms with their loved ones. After all, hanami could help people cope with the stress of living with the modern epidemic and the threat of global warming. That being said, it is also pretty symbolic that just like cherry blossoms, we are also always in the face of the fragility of life.
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