Stress-induced-flowering is well known - for example, https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/why_are_my_apples_blooming_in_fall https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/why_are_my_

Stress-induced-flowering is well known - for example, https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/why_are_my_apples_blooming_in_fall https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/why_are_my_apples_blooming_in_... In what appears to be the source article: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181018_04/ https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20181018_04/ the arborist clarifies, "this year trees have lost their leaves, stripped off by violent winds or left to wither from salt exposure." Assuming it's because of global warming simply because it's an unusual environmental occurrence seems to be a popular pattern. Several news sources extrapolate to that as well, along with references to the pattern of earlier spring blooming in DC and Kyoto (more likely attributable to the urban heat island effect, as it started well before CO2-induced warming would have been significant).