WMO: 2023 hottest year globally, set climate indicator records

Climate Change Impacting , Cherry Blossom Season , Around the World. 'Time' reports that cherry blossom trees around the world are blooming earlier as a result of increasing temperatures due to climate change. According to Daisuke Sasano, a climate risk management officer , at the Japan Meteorological Agency, the average bloom date, has moved up 1.2 days per decade since 1953. Cherry trees, known as sakura in Japan, had an average starting bloom date of March 29 between 1961 and 1990, according to Sasano's research. Between 1991 and 2020, the data showed that the average moved up to March 24. . In 2023, the starting bloom date in Tokyo was March 14. . The fact that Tokyo recorded the earliest start date is due to global warming, compounded with urbanization, Daisuke Sasano, Climate risk management officer, via 'Time'. 'Time' reports that the warmer-than-normal temperatures were recorded all around the world this winter, with January coming in as the hottest ever on record. Spring is most definitely starting earlier than when you were a kid— there is no doubt about that, Theresa Crimmins, Director of the USA National Phenology Network, via 'Time'. Many, many studies show clear trends toward warmer temperatures and earlier starts to springtime activity over the longer term, Theresa Crimmins, Director of the USA National Phenology Network, via 'Time'. According to U.S. government data, peak bloom in Washington D.C. has shifted earlier by around 7 days since 1921.