Does Washington, D.C., Need a Climate-Change Memorial?

One of the most iconic sights in Washington, D.C.—its Japanese cherry trees, exploding like frozen fireworks each spring—is also likely to be among its first casualties of climate change. As the seas rise, many of the waterfront trees will be subsumed by the muddy Potomac River, perhaps necessitating a laborious relocation to higher ground.

Or, we could just let them perish. That’s the core idea of a new proposal for a global-warming memorial on Hains Point, a riverside park area that’s already a regular victim of flooding. “Climate Chronograph,” which has won the Memorials for the Future Competition put on by the National Park Service, National Capital Planning Commission, and the Van Alen Institute, would install a sloped grove of cherry trees along the Potomac. As the river gets higher, the trees would drown row by row, creating a tangible timeline of global warming from sublime blossoms and rotten, leafless boughs.