[Nate writes…] This is the second post of a monthly series where I discuss things I observe in my life/travels that are likely to change in the future either fully or partially due to our changing climate. Climate is a more complicated word than most people realize. It’s the weather conditions in a place over a long period of time. “It’s raining today” or “Last week was really hot!” are examples of changing weather, while “Hurricanes have become a lot stronger over the past century” or “Wine country in Oregon is going to change dramatically in the next century” are examples of changing climate.
The other day, my fiancé told me that our wine shipment* had been delayed due to high heat conditions in the Southwest US and the winery was reluctant to ship wine in the high temperatures.
2 weeks later:
I had a laugh at first. That’s silly, too hot to transport a bottle? Is the glass going to melt? But then I started to think a bit more. Wine can go bad in high temperatures. So can a lot of other perishables, canned/bottled goods, and even medicine! Oh my goodness, what will the increased temperatures in the Southwestern US do to the transportation/shipping industry and food stuffs?
There are a lot of goods that ship out of California to the rest of the United States. From 91% of strawberries to frozen restaurant food (pre-frozen In-N-Out burgers? No thanks). This could be a big deal though. All of those perishable items will now have to tolerate higher temperatures in transit, so that means more air-conditioned trucks and trains. Refrigerated transport is projected to grow and it’s hard to know if climate change will affect the growth of this industry. The growth for this industry may be due to increased demand of refrigerated products, but high temperatures due to Climate Change could expedite the need for cooling power. This increase in refrigeration and air-conditioning will take a toll on the energy sector, but maybe the renewable energy industry can compensate.
Source: wineponder.com
I tried searching for any reports or studies exploring the effects of climate change on transportation of perishables and found several guidelines for transporting goods. One from the USDA, another from a published article in 2009, and lastly from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. These guidelines will become more valuable as temperatures and climate become more inhospitable to perishable items. There are a lot of implications for how this will change the country (and worldwide) availability of certain food/medicine/goods. What’s on your grocery’s shelves today, may not be there 10 years from now**. For now I’ll stick to keeping my wine cool during summer transit and defer to the recommendations of Carhartt winery.
Stay tuned for next month where I talk about fire in the western United States. Very much a hot topic.
*my fiancé is from California, so while you can temporarily relocate a Californian, you have to subsidize them with wine from the Golden State.
**More on this in future #ClimateChanged posts
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Nate Emery is currently a post-doc in the department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and conducts research in plant ecophysiology, biology education, and faculty professional development. Follow him on Twitter @FoggyIdeas or check out his website for more information
Stay tuned for next month where I talk about fire in the western United States. Very much a hot topic.
*my fiancé is from California, so while you can temporarily relocate a Californian, you have to subsidize them with wine from the Golden State.
**More on this in future #ClimateChanged posts
---
Nate Emery is currently a post-doc in the department of Plant Biology at Michigan State University. He holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and conducts research in plant ecophysiology, biology education, and faculty professional development. Follow him on Twitter @FoggyIdeas or check out his website for more information
