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California's Carlsbad Flower Fields Welcome Visitors with Full Blooms

Visitors pose and take pictures among the 50 acres of Ranunculus flowers at "The Flower Fields" in Carlsbad, California, US, March 31, 2021. Picture taken March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Visitors pose and take pictures among the 50 acres of Ranunculus flowers at "The Flower Fields" in Carlsbad, California, US, March 31, 2021. Picture taken March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake
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California's Carlsbad Flower Fields Welcome Visitors with Full Blooms

Visitors pose and take pictures among the 50 acres of Ranunculus flowers at "The Flower Fields" in Carlsbad, California, US, March 31, 2021. Picture taken March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake
Visitors pose and take pictures among the 50 acres of Ranunculus flowers at "The Flower Fields" in Carlsbad, California, US, March 31, 2021. Picture taken March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Mike Blake

People took pictures amid waist-high blossoms in every imaginable hue of orange, pink, yellow and purple at California’s famous Flower Fields in Carlsbad as it opened to the public.

The attraction was closed for most of 2020, due to pandemic-related restrictions, but plummeting coronavirus cases and California’s move to the orange tier of lockdown restrictions means the fields can once again welcome a limited number of visitors.

“I am so happy we’re open again,” said general manager Fred Clarke, Reuters reported.

“Last year we were nine months in and we had to mow the crop down.”

The fields, 34 miles (55 km) north of San Diego, showcase more than 70 million flowers, creating an annual spectacle when they bloom.

“It does feel like things are easing a little bit. It’s just great to see the beauty and just get out and enjoy a day with my wife,” said Artie Creighton, 53, from Corona, California.

“This is one of the first times that we’ve been out in a long time.”

The Flower Fields, which are open to the public until May 9, are also a working farm that sells flowers, which end up at florists and supermarkets, Clarke said, explaining how they breed their own variety of ranunculus.

“We’re hybridizing ranunculus and every year trying to improve the quality, the size of the flower, the brightness of the color, the uniformity of the crop,” he added.

“So every year we believe it’s getting better and better.”

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Disasters Loom over South Asia with Forecast of Hotter, Wetter Monsoon

The Himalayan mountain range of Annapurna and Mount Machapuchare (top, C) are pictured from Nepal's Pokhara on June 7, 2025. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP)
The Himalayan mountain range of Annapurna and Mount Machapuchare (top, C) are pictured from Nepal's Pokhara on June 7, 2025. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP)
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Disasters Loom over South Asia with Forecast of Hotter, Wetter Monsoon

The Himalayan mountain range of Annapurna and Mount Machapuchare (top, C) are pictured from Nepal's Pokhara on June 7, 2025. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP)
The Himalayan mountain range of Annapurna and Mount Machapuchare (top, C) are pictured from Nepal's Pokhara on June 7, 2025. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP)

Communities across Asia's Himalayan Hindu Kush region face heightened disaster risks this monsoon season with temperatures and rainfall expected to exceed normal levels, experts warned on Thursday.

Temperatures are expected to be up to two degrees Celsius hotter than average across the region, with forecasts for above-average rains, according to a monsoon outlook released by Kathmandu-based International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) on Wednesday.

"Rising temperatures and more extreme rain raise the risk of water-induced disasters such as floods, landslides, and debris flows, and have longer-term impacts on glaciers, snow reserves, and permafrost," Arun Bhakta Shrestha, a senior adviser at ICIMOD, said in a statement.

The summer monsoon, which brings South Asia 70-80 percent of its annual rainfall, is vital for agriculture and therefore for the livelihoods of millions of farmers and for food security in a region that is home to around two billion people.

However, it also brings destruction through landslides and floods every year. Melting glaciers add to the volume of water, while unregulated construction in flood-prone areas exacerbates the damage.

"What we have seen over the years are also cascading disasters where, for example, heavy rainfall can lead to landslides, and landslides can actually block rivers. We need to be aware about such possibilities," Saswata Sanyal, manager of ICIMOD's Disaster Risk Reduction work, told AFP.

Last year's monsoon season brought devastating landslides and floods across South Asia and killed hundreds of people, including more than 300 in Nepal.

This year, Nepal has set up a monsoon response command post, led by its National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

"We are coordinating to stay prepared and to share data and alerts up to the local level for early response. Our security forces are on standby for rescue efforts," said agency spokesman Ram Bahadur KC.

Weather-related disasters are common during the monsoon season from June to September but experts say climate change, coupled with urbanization, is increasing their frequency and severity.

The UN's World Meteorological Organization said last year that increasingly intense floods and droughts are a "distress signal" of what is to come as climate change makes the planet's water cycle ever more unpredictable.