The world we live in is an ever changing place. Since it was formed from interstellar dust 4.6 billion years ago change has been the only constant for our planet. Recently a lot more attention has been focused on climate change news. This is partially down to the intense political debate surrounding this issue, but there is also curiosity into what the effects of change may be.
Whether climate change is caused by humans or by other factors, and whether the change manifests itself as warming, cooling, or weather pattern disruption, that the world will see it seems certain. The question then becomes one as to the human results of these changes, and the best strategies to deploy to manage these changes.
One of the more obvious areas in which changes in climate will have an impact is agriculture. Crops require certain conditions to thrive. Some crops are much more sensitive to temperature than others, these include the grapes that are used to make wine.
The temperature at which grapes are grown dramatically impacts on their taste, and therefore on the quality of wine that can be produced using them. With the other foods that farmers grow, changes in temperature would not necessarily be disastrous. Farmers would be able to adapt by planting crops that thrived the new conditions. As long as enough water is available (a major problem in itself) there is no reason why food production could be maintained or even rise. For wine producers this might be the case.The temperature that grapes are grown in is only one factor in determining the quality of wine. The soil in which the grapes are grown makes a big difference too. All this means that everything we know about good wines could be turned on its head. Already wines produced in the UK have become drinkable, who knows what other changes may be in the pipeline.
