Climate Change May Bring Sour Grapes
Study Finds Global Warming Could Devastate U.S. Wine Industry
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While problems are seen for California wine country, the paper suggests grape-growing conditions might improve in parts of the Northwest and Northeast.
However, the researchers note that the Northeastern and Northwestern states have higher humidity levels than the current top wine regions.
High humidity is associated with fungus outbreaks and other potential growing problems, Diffenbaugh said, "so it could be very expensive to produce premium wines in those areas."
"Our simulations suggest that the area suitable for the production of premium wine grapes will both contract and shift over the next century," the researchers concluded.
"Production potential was almost completely eliminated in the Southwest and central United States; only high elevations were marginally suitable in the Intermountain West," they reported.
Some favorable regions remain in coastal California, Oregon, Washington and New England.
A thousand years ago when Viking explorers arrived on the coasts of eastern Canada and New England, they named the region Vinland, a designation that has perplexed many historians since grapes are uncommon there now.
The weather was warmer then, however.
In Medieval times, there were vineyards in England that were later knocked out by a colder period known as the Little Ice Age, Diffenbaugh recalled. Now, wine grapes are being grown in England again.
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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