| Global Warming is something we all hear | | | | |
| about. We hear mention of it on the news, we | | | | |
| see protests regarding it on college | | | | This study, which was funded by the National |
| campuses, and we receive messages about it in | | | | Science Foundation, Purdue University, and |
| our email in-boxes. But, most of us don't | | | | NASA, took supercomputer calculations over a |
| really understand what it is, or we choose to | | | | span of five months, calculating daily |
| ignore it. However, for those of us who are | | | | temperature swings contingent on |
| wine drinkers, Global Warming is knocking so | | | | climate-change situations, under the |
| hard we are about to have no choice but to | | | | assumption that carbon dioxide levels would |
| open the cellar door. | | | | continue as outlined in the standard Global |
| | | | Warming scenarios (levels that warn gases |
| | | | will rise to over twice their current levels |
| | | | by 2100). |
| Guide to Global Warming | | | | |
| | | | |
| In a nutshell, Global Warming is the gradual | | | | |
| increase of the temperature of the earth's | | | | Because the production of quality grapes is |
| lower atmosphere. This warming has been | | | | reliant on a balance of the yin and yang of |
| increasing since the Industrial Revolution, | | | | mother-nature, with an easily disturbed |
| with the prevalence of greenhouse gases. | | | | equilibrium of hot and cold being a major |
| These greenhouse gases trap more heat near | | | | factor, the change in climate from Global |
| the earth, increasing global temperatures. | | | | Warming could be detrimental to the ability |
| | | | to make quality wine. And, if the equilibrium |
| | | | was weighed too heavily on one side - with |
| | | | weather that was too hot or too cold - the |
| Though Global Warming doesn't sound that | | | | ability to make grapes could disappear |
| bad, with many people's image of it being | | | | altogether. |
| that of a globe wrapped snuggly in a warm | | | | |
| blanket, it's something that needs to be | | | | |
| taken seriously and it's something that could | | | | |
| greatly hinder, and destroy, the future. The | | | | Why it Matters |
| feared long term impacts include melting of | | | | |
| polar ice, causing coastal flooding and a | | | | No one wants to be credited as "that guy" or |
| rise in sea level; a disruption in the | | | | "that girl" who helped destroy the earth, |
| drinking supply, with much of the water | | | | unleashing diseases and viruses on the |
| supply becoming contingent on snow melts; | | | | masses. And, no one wants to be credited as |
| vast changes of agriculture and farming, | | | | helping to destroy wine vineyards, picking |
| causing havoc among the world's crop | | | | grapes off their vines and stomping them into |
| supplies; extinction of certain species; and | | | | oblivion. |
| an increase in both tropical storms and | | | | |
| tropical diseases. | | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | Global Warming, like so many environmental |
| | | | threats, is easy to ignore: the fall out from |
| And, in regards to wine, Global Warming | | | | it probably won't be directly felt in our |
| could lead to the destruction of many of the | | | | lifetime. However, it will be felt in the |
| vineyards across the nation by the end of the | | | | lifetime of our children and our |
| century. | | | | grandchildren. While some people shrug their |
| | | | shoulders at this notion, we must take into |
| | | | account this reality: if our grandparents |
| | | | left us with a destroyed world, we'd be |
| Affect on Wine | | | | pretty ticked off. And nothing, not even a |
| | | | hefty inheritance, could make up for it. |
| A new computerized climate study recently | | | | |
| released in the journal Proceedings of the | | | | |
| National Academy of Sciences predicted that | | | | |
| an increase in the number of days hotter than | | | | What Can be Done |
| 95 degrees during the growing season could | | | | |
| sharply reduce the amount of areas able to | | | | There is no quick fix to stopping Global |
| produce vintage wine-grape production. This | | | | Warming, pulling the plug on it is a lengthy |
| would also cause the elimination of vineyards | | | | process, made up of extension cord after |
| nationwide and cause the vineyards capable of | | | | extension cord. However, there are a few |
| producing the most expensive premium wines to | | | | things that can be done to help slow the |
| be cut in half. | | | | process, and eventually stop it altogether. |
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