Australia is in the grip of the worst drought in recorded history. While this impacts mainly on pastoral and arable farming, climate change will impact in other areas of the primary industry.
-AAP: Melbourne
"Climate change will dramatically alter growing conditions for Australia's wine industry causing a big drop in quality as well as in the production of Pinot Noir, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc, a new study shows.
A University of Melbourne PhD student has charted the effect of the CSIRO climate change projects on Australia's major grape growing regions.
"Temperatures in most Australian wine regions are projected to increase by between .3 to 1.7 degrees C by 2030" Leanne Webb of the University's Faculty of Land and Food Resources, said yesterday.
"Modelling the effect of this temperature increase shows that grape quality could be reduced in some regions by 12 to 57 per cent compared to current conditions.
Aside from a drop in quality, Webb said the rising temperatures would shift the grape "budburst" date, shorten the overall growing season and lead to earlier harvests.
She said climate change would also redraw the map when it came to the type of wine each regions was renowned for and cool-climate varieties such as Pinot Noir might be reduced.
Webb also said the industry could adapt by breeding new grape varieties that suited a warmer climate."