NYC’s Spring Blossoms Will Arrive Later, Says Yale Study

If you thought climate change meant spring would keep sneaking in earlier each year—surprise! A new Yale study says New Yorkers will be cooling their heels for cherry blossoms , lilacs and all those leafy Instagram backdrops. Turns out, the city’s trees are hitting the snooze button.

The culprit is warmer winters that mess with the trees’ internal clocks. Trees in temperate regions, including those in New York City, need a proper cold spell to reset for spring. Without that chill, they don’t know when to wake up. So instead of bursting into bloom, they stall—resulting in delayed leaf-outs, shorter green seasons and less shade when we need it most.

Researchers analyzed more than two decades of NASA satellite images from 346 city parks . They defined spring’s start as when at lea