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Global Warming Threatens US Wine Market
Posted by perle0 on 2006-07-10 21:25:05
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[News]
[USA] |
 Bad news--a new scientific study predicts that global warming will have devastating effects on the US wine industry. (Use your imagination to figure out how it will affect regions like Australia.) The United States is the world's fourth-largest producer of wine.
It seems that the problem for grapes is not average temperature, but the number of days temperatures rise above 95 degrees. The hardiest grape varieties can only take about 14 such days, but the predictions for the coming century are that most of the US grape-growing regions will see 30 to 60 such days per season. The report will appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and could have multibillion-dollar implications for the U.S. wine industry. |
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Noah Diffenbaugh, a co-author of the study and atmospheric scientist at Purdue University, stated "Our minimum increase is more than double the maximum tolerance. It's just too hot for the wine grapes too many days of the year."
As a result, areas that today are marginally suitable for wine grapes would become unusable, and areas that cultivate the finest, most expensive wines would decrease by more than half.
Areas that are expected to become warmer due to global warming, such as the Pacific northwest and New England, will not be optimal for growing grapes due to high levels of humidity and rainfall, which can lead to mildew and rot.
Climate change is already forcing Spanish growers to seek higher, cooler ground in the Pyrenees for their grapes, while England is seeing somewhat improved conditions.
Diffenbaugh pointed out that the study's results might be avoided if something were done soon to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere.
"There's still a chance to curb those greenhouse gas emissions and stabilize them at lower levels than where we're pointed now," he said. "The decisions that we make now actually are in very large part determining where we end up in the future." |
More details. |
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