These maps of climate change got me thinking:
The graphics is from a story in the trade publication Good Fruit Grower entitled "Turning Up the Heat Raises Risks for Ag Workers."
The story covers a recent study that prescribes best heat-beating practices (such as clothing types and incentivizing hydration) to protect agricultural workers.
All good points—really good points—but also
This pub for growers makes a very good point about heat and farmworker safety. Misses a scarier one about future fruit crops 1/5 https://t.co/Y3i3GER6mJ— Adam's Apples (@adapples) August 24, 2020
I seldom mine my Twitter channel for this blog (things mostly flow the other way). And have never done a so-called "tweet storm" before, a thread of linked tweets.
YES, safety for those farmworkers is super important! But take another look at those maps. Can you grow the same #apples once the climate changes +4 degrees?— Adam's Apples (@adapples) August 24, 2020
Because that is where we are heading 2/5 https://t.co/h3RnhqzzFk
New England has an apple heritage that is almost 400 years old.— Adam's Apples (@adapples) August 24, 2020
I do not look forward to saying goodby to Macoun, McIntosh, the russets, and others. 3/5
What will growers do when those trees become unproductive or yield inferior fruit?— Adam's Apples (@adapples) August 24, 2020
Will they replace with heritage varieties from Virginia and points south, or just plan the same boring #apples that you can get in supermarkets year round? 4/5
Either way, will be sad to see those New England #apples go 5/5— Adam's Apples (@adapples) August 24, 2020
What happens to the foods we love when the climate heats up?
The study: Tigchelaar, Michelle, David Battisti, and June Spector. 2020. "Work Adaptations Insufficient to Address Growing Heat Risk for U.S. Agricultural Workers" Environ. Res. Lett. 15(9) 094035 (25 August 2020).
The graphic showing the progress of climate warming was prepared by the authors and published by Environmental Research Letters.
It was made available by EurikaAlert, a project of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, and was slightly modified by Good Fruit Grower to fit a web page.
I live in 5b right now. My relatives have a farm up in the Catskills that is probably 4b. I have a Mcintosh that I grew from scionwood taken from Grandfather's old homestead. I decided to plant it at the 4b farm since it's easily 5 degrees warmer here through the summer. It's on a P18 rootstock, so it should live a good long time if the climate and deer allow it. It's a decision that I've made with several other varieties when deciding whether to include them in my home orchard as I've planted it over the last two years. I've hedged on quite a few known to do well hundreds of miles south of here.
ReplyDeleteHow is the Mac doing up there ? (Or maybe too early to say)
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