Wooden Castles and Winter Flowers: Mark Wenzler

Last Sunday was a beautiful day in Washington, D.C. With temperatures in the mid-70s, I put on shorts for the first time in months for my regular Sunday morning run. This was an especially magical jog through a faintly fragrant tunnel of blossoming cherry trees. The many thousands of cherry trees in our nation’s capital date back to a 1912 gift of friendship from the people of Japan. They are one of the things that makes D.C. so beautiful and a major driver of tourism. But should we be enjoying them in the middle of March? 

According to The Washington Post, exceptionally warm March weather propelled these cherry blossoms to their second-earliest peak bloom in more than a century of records. As our climate has warmed over the past hundred years, the average peak bloom date has advanced about six days, from April 4 to March 30, with a peak before March 29 in each of the past five years. With changes happening so fast, the cherry blossoms are often long gone before the National Cherry Blossom Festival even begins. Keep that in mind to avoid disappointment if you plan to travel to D.C. for the festival. 

The changes I’m witnessing in my hometown of Washington, D.C. are also apparent in another place near and dear to you and me — Chautauqua, New York. While D.C. has its iconic cherry trees, Chautauqua has its iconic lake, the center of so much of our life, from snowmobiling, skiing and ice fishing in the winter to swimming and boating in the summer. 

One of the most popular events of the colder months is the Winter Festival in Mayville, home of the famous Ice Castle, made from giant blocks of frozen Chautauqua Lake water. Unfortunately, things were a bit different this year. According to The Post-Journal, “Officials with Mayville’s Winter Festival … faced one major problem when it came to start building the traditional ice castle: there was no ice.” Instead of the traditional ice castle, visitors arrived to find a hastily constructed wooden castle. 

The warming of Chautauqua Lake tracks with larger troubling trends in our region. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), ice extent on the Great Lakes hit a record low this year as a result of the warmest winter on record over much of the region. Since 1973 ice cover on the Great Lakes has declined by about 25%, and the length of ice season has declined by 27 days, according to Climate Central. 

And warm lakes aren’t just a problem in the winter. Warmer lake waters combined with increased runoff caused by more intense storms, both linked to climate change, are thought to be contributing to conditions that are conducive to harmful algae blooms in all lakes, including Chautauqua Lake. Through our partnerships with The Jefferson Project and New York State, Chautauqua Institution is working to increase our understanding of these changes and invest in solutions that ensure a healthy ecological future for Chautauqua Lake. 

This summer at Chautauqua, Smith Memorial Library will host an exhibit by local artist and SUNY-Fredonia professor Tim Frerichs called Ice Out Chautauqua. The exhibit seeks to raise awareness and start a conversation about what the warming of Chautauqua Lake means for all of us. 

As we look forward to another spectacular season of programming at Chautauqua Institution this summer, I invite you join the climate change conversation through our many weekly lectures and programs. Stay tuned to this space for a full schedule of climate events coming in mid-June. In the meantime, as you enjoy this gorgeous new season blossoming around us, give a thought to wooden castles and winter flowers.