Rising temperatures threaten California fruit, grape and nut production

Grower-shippers unconcerned about global warming report
Published on 07/27/2009
By Don Schrack
The Packer

"...By the end of this century, global warming could make California’s San Joaquin Valley no longer suitable for stone fruit, grapes and nuts, according to researchers at the University of California-Davis and the University of Washington, Seattle."

“The main message to the industry is that we must start developing long-term strategies to deal with this quite likely problem of the future,” said Eike Luedeling, a post doctoral researcher at UC-Davis.

Most vulnerable to the warming climate, Luedeling said, is winter temperatures. To achieve proper dormancy, most tree fruit, grapes and nuts require a minimum number of chill hours — when the temperature is between freezing and 45 degrees.

According to the study, weather data from 1950 to 2000 indicates chill hours are likely to decrease by more than 50% during this century.

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