Climate change threatens to spoil Ontario’s signature wines
Winemakers in Ontario say they are fighting to protect their grapes against the heat.
The Globe and Mail newspaper reports hotter summers can cause heat stress for grapes, which can threaten signature Ontario whites such as chardonnay and riesling.
The newspaper says warmer temperatures are also being blamed for the proliferation of foreign pests in Ontario vineyards, which is pushing up costs for grape growers. And that could mean a higher price per bottle.
The Globe and Mail says Ontario had 575 million dollars in wine sales in 2009.
At the same time, some experts are predicting that warmer weather could actually help production in new parts of the province – where it hasn’t been warm enough in the past to grow grapes.
Tags: agriculture, bugs, climate change, environment, grapes, heat, Ontario, pests, province, weather, wine
“At the same time, some experts are predicting that warmer weather could actually help production in new parts of the province – where it hasn’t been warm enough in the past to grow grapes.”
The question is, can these grape growers sue the people driving hybrids, who are actively cooling the planet?
This whole weather/climate thing is boring and a bit silly. It’s too hot or it’s too cold.
Hot? I was in NYC when its record high of 107 was reached in July 1966. The heat wave lasted for several days and I spent the weekend in the bathtub trying to stay cool. Didn’t have AC then and don’t have it now. And I’m someone who thinks anything above 50 is too warm.
But I’m not complaining about the heat. I’ve seen worse.
What I would like to complain about is how uninteresting these blogs have become. It seems to be always about food or weather.
Major issues like the budget and health care seem to be lost in the shuffle. What gives?
Exactly. Food and weather have nothing to do with my everyday life.
JDM – from an agricultural perspective the fact that the zone for growing those grapes is moving north doesn’t help anyone. Those growers who have invested in the old zone loose everything. And it will be years before anyone is confident enough to invest further north, and then many years more till production is profitable. By then, the zone may have moved further north. Not good for anyone.
Farmers everywhere rely on stable weather patterns to ply their difficult craft. Instabilities in the weather, gradual changes in climate cause difficulties for those folks of course, but that difficulty send a ripple out through our economic systems and it’s not good.
As always, the poorest of the poor will suffer and die before most public radio listeners.