Tag Archives: climate change

Weird Weather or Climate Change

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A week ago on Sunday 6/11/17 we were thinking that June has been a cool month and it looked line rain.  Well, later in the afternoon we had hail!  This is not an unusual occurrence in many parts of the country, but for us in Russian River Valley, we don’t even get much rain in June.

Now a week later we are having a heat wave.  It was 97 yesterday and will be 96 today.  The next 5 days look to be 96, 89, 92, and 95!!!  We don’t get this kind of heat in August.

So, is the vineyard OK?  So far…the picture below shows we still have green grass between the rows.  It is looking to be a good year!

Just so happens I was speaking to someone this last week about climate change and the subject of “The earth is cooling” from the 70’s came up.  So I decided to do a little research and looks like those research papers assumed we would increase sulfurs in the air by 4X.  But…we changed regulations and the greenhouse gases have taken over…so, I do believe in climate change and now can understand the “cooling” argument from the 70’s.  Check out my link above for a little information.

No Rain for 2013 !

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Pipes

 

As farmers we live and die by the weather, in fact I get a wine industry weather report sent to me every day via email so I can plan my week.  Grapevines need moisture in the winter and fall to replenish the soil.  They need to be warm in the spring and hot, but not to hot, in the summer and fall.  Pinot Noir likes the range of temperatures in the days and nights to be large to develop wonderful flavors.

This brings me to this post on rainfall.  Sebastopol (in Sonoma County) for 2013 has had only 8.1 inches of rain as of mid-December (I hope it rains during the holidays).  Normally we get 36.3 inches of rain, with most of it coming in the winter and spring to recharge the soil and fill the aquifers. .  If we don’t get much rain this winter I think the vines will suffer and we will get a smaller crop for 2014.  Global climate change, El Nino, who knows…I know I may regret saying this as I need time to get ready for the growing season and prune in the spring…but I sure wish it would rain a lot this winter.   Sure we can irrigate, but it is not the same.