Climate change
Posted on | February 9, 2007
The Financial Times recently carried two articles which caught my eye. One was that “World scientists are certain that humans cause global warming” [FT 4 Feb 2007} and the other in the same paper was that property prices in ski resorts were suffering from a lack of snow (global warming?).
Presumably the first anthropomorphic statement is meant to include the cow's anus - perhaps the largest single emitter of greenhouse gases. Cattle contribute 18% of all greenhouse gases - more than all transport put together [FAO].
But neither of these pieces of information are really that important. Why, and there relationship to wine I will explain.
Part I - climate change
Firstly, I have said for years to my environmentally minded friends that there was no proof of global warming. A stance which has always brought me vitriol. The Report above seems to confirm it. The corollary is that until now there was no proof for global warming. One up to me.
On the other hand I have never needed to see a report from the UN, or any other group for that matter, to understand that the planet was in the process of being destroyed. Global warming is a theory which has been around for a long time but providing the evidence for it is a distraction. Simply, examine the statistics on deforestation in the Amazon. The pollution caused by cars and, far worse and mostly overlooked, from pleasure boating. The uncontrolled mining of minerals. The appalling consumerism and terrible waste of resources. Did any of us need confirmation of the harmful consequences of this reckless existence?
The impact of global warming on the wine world is not yet proven despite this report. Let’s not jump to conclusions. Whilst property prices in the ski resorts of Europe may be suffering I think it a little early for property prices in the shires of England to start climbing in anticipation of the UK taking over from Bordeaux. Besides, there is the general question of the wine glut to be considered.
Part II - skiing and wine
It is something of an irony that in the same week that the report on climate change is published world leaders are gathered in one of Switzerland’s dreariest and most charmless resorts - Davos. The lack of snow would have been only too visible to those leaders who care about such things but I doubt that anyone remarked on it. I don’t know of any politician on the world stage who is a (a) a competent skier and (b) a wine lover. This isn’t really surprising if you consider the characteristics required. The former requires courage, a head for heights, a fixed objective, and a concern for others on the same piste the latter: taste, honesty, an appreciation of the traditions from whence it comes and a concern for the future of the environment where it is made.
There is an anology, of course, between property prices in ski resorts and the price of wine ” both are affected by climate or, if you prefer, vintage variation. 2007 seems likely to go down as one of the worst vintages for skiing in Europe for a very long time. Of course, wine tasting is no more a science than climate prediction. One shouldn’t pretend that it is. Apparently, most non-professional tasters cannot even distinguish between a bad year in Bordeaux and a good one and not many professionals either. (www.liquidasset.com/WEILVDQS.PDF)
Fabian Cobb
