The wine industry is particularly vulnerable to climate change.
Grape growers can expect to see rising temperatures which will cause a shift in budburst dates, shorter growing seasons and earlier harvest dates.
“A range of greenhouse gas emission scenarios and climate models were used to determine the sensitivity of environmental impacts to future grape growing possibilities.”
In a paper published in the latest Wine Industry Journal, the impact of projected greenhouse gas-induced climate change will cause earlier harvests in a warmer climates and temperatures that are too warm to produce balanced wines from some or maybe all grape varieties growing in the region.
This study recommends ‘obvious adaptive responses’ to global warming by preparing now to relocate existing varietal plantings to cooler regions. Choosing new regions and grapevine varieties suited to a changing climate should become part of any vineyard strategy.