Drought and higher temperatures mean some wine-growing areas will be less productive. Climate change could wipe out up to 80 per cent of Australia’s wine production as large parts of inland irrigation zones become too hot and dry to support grapevines, a US academic has warned. Visiting Australia on a fellowship with Melbourne University, environmental scientist Dr Greg Jones said winemakers in the US and Europe were buying up land at higher altitudes and in coastal regions where cooler conditions would provide a buffer to global warming. Similarly, in Australia, as higher temperatures reduce inland rainfall, horticultural zones reliant on irrigation, such as the Murray-Darling Basin, may no longer be productive. “The biggest issue in Australia is how the water situation will work its way out. Without irrigation, 80 per cent of the Australian industry is in peril,” Dr Jones said. The Australian, May 5.
May 16
