{"id":6285,"date":"2010-11-12T11:47:54","date_gmt":"2010-11-12T16:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=6285"},"modified":"2010-11-12T16:07:12","modified_gmt":"2010-11-12T21:07:12","slug":"global-warming-endangering-icewine-industry-researcher-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2010\/11\/global-warming-endangering-icewine-industry-researcher-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Global warming threatening icewine industry, researcher says"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_6287\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-6287\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6287 \" title=\"Tony Shaw\" src=\"http:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/tonyshawresearch2.jpg\" alt=\"Tony Shaw\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-6287\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">If climate change persists, &quot;we\u2019ll be in a serious situation in terms of icewine,&quot; Tony Shaw says.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Right now, icewine is a popular delicacy \u2013 a sweet and easily available dessert wine made from grapes plucked from winter vines.<\/p>\n<p>But soon, Tony Shaw says, global warming could change all that.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"\/social-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/geography\" target=\"_blank\">Geography<\/a> professor is studying the impact of climate change on agricultural crops, including icewine. His findings show that since the 1980s, ideal picking days in Ontario for the grapes that make icewine are on a steady decline, meaning the warmer it gets, the more innovative we may have to be to create one of Niagara\u2019s most unique exports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not a drastic situation right now,\u201d Shaw said. \u201cBut it\u2019s the long term that we\u2019re really concerned about. If those trends continue to persist, we\u2019ll be in a serious situation in terms of icewine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Icewine requires grapes to be exposed to temperatures below -8 C for an extended period of time. The ideal picking time for the grapes is mid December to the end of January. If the grapes aren\u2019t harvested by early February, they\u2019re exposed to elements such as rot, pests, birds.<\/p>\n<p>Not only have the number of picking days in December and January been gradually declining, but temperatures are also fluctuating more erratically, which means plants respond to milder periods only to be frozen again, he said.<\/p>\n<p>As climate change continues, Ontario\u2019s icewine industry \u2014 which accounts for as much as 80 per cent of Canada&#8217;s icewine \u2014 could be in danger, Shaw said. Other countries, particularly Austria and Germany, face similar challenges.<\/p>\n<p>Shaw is studying Ontario\u2019s three major wine areas \u2014 Lake Erie North Shore, Niagara and Prince Edward County. The latter still has very cold temperatures, he said. But the other two areas that are experiencing a marked downward trend.<\/p>\n<p>Shaw is using Environment Canada data to forecast the future of the wine industry. This information will help develop strategies to adapt to climate change, and determine which grape varieties will do better in the warmer climate. Without this information, he said, the wine industry will eventually be in jeopardy, as could the livelihoods of farmers who have devoted time, energy and land for it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a huge amount of investment that goes into putting in a vineyard or an orchard,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to look at what the climate can support on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shaw is a fellow of the <a href=\"\/ccovi\" target=\"_blank\">Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute<\/a>. He has been at Brock since 1983.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Link:<\/strong><br \/>\n\u2022 <a href=\"\/social-sciences\/undergraduate-programs\/geography\/faculty\/anthony-shaw\" target=\"_blank\">Tony Shaw faculty page<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/feedburner.google.com\/fb\/a\/mailverify?uri=TheBrockNews&amp;loc=en_US\">Get <em>The Brock News<\/em> delivered to your email.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tony Shaw is studying the impact of climate change on agriculture, including icewine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,1,5],"tags":[61,68,3325],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6285"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6285"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6304,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6285\/revisions\/6304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}