California warming

last updated 8 January 2015

Palo Alto

Global warming could make California 4 to 10 degrees hotter by the end of the century, causing a barrage of heat waves, the Union of Concerned Scientists said this week. The state’s lucrative wine industry could be the first casualty. Vintners say their grapes are ripening earlier as the weather warms, and hotter temperatures could ruin the taste of many wines. “The reason wine growers don’t talk more about this,” said Christopher Howell of Cain Vineyards & Winery, “is that it seems that there is nothing we can do.” The researchers said that the state could help avert disaster by cutting pollution, which traps heat in the atmosphere.