[News Issue] From 'Jindallae' to 'Cherry Blossoms' in October... Unusual Blooming

Although it is already mid-October, recent daytime high temperatures have risen to 26-27 degrees Celsius, resulting in unusually warm weather for autumn. Consequently, abnormal phenomena such as the blooming of spring flowers that typically bloom from March to April are occurring across the country.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Gangwon Provincial Forest Science Institute, the prolonged summer and continued hot weather until late September caused the azalea fruits in Seoraksan to fall prematurely while still immature. The azalea fruits dried out and dropped due to the extended summer and intense sunlight.

In Hangyeryeong in Seoraksan National Park and Hwaksan Mountain, azaleas bloomed once again. Azaleas, a representative "spring flower" that usually blooms around April, enter dormancy when temperatures drop in early October. However, due to abnormal temperatures and continued warmth in autumn, it is interpreted that the plants were tricked into thinking spring had arrived in the middle of autumn.

In Hampyeong County, Jeollanam-do, cherry blossoms have bloomed. While there is an opinion that these may be spring-autumn cherry trees (Chunchu-hwa) that bloom twice in spring and autumn, the possibility of flowering due to weather changes cannot be ruled out.

For woody plants, which thicken their stems and form growth rings through secondary growth, autumn is an important period to prepare for dormancy. However, with summers becoming longer and autumns relatively shorter, this is becoming a threat to these plants. If nutrients cannot be efficiently stored due to the shortened autumn, their adaptability to external environmental changes may decline. This could eventually lead to a decrease in population.

Over the past decade, the length of autumn has averaged 64 days and is gradually shortening. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration's "Season Length Statistics," autumn weather used to start on September 26 and last about 70 days from 2001 to 2010, but from 2011 to 2020, it began on September 29 and lasted only 64 days.