Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to NASA scientist Joshua Fisher, climate change in regions which produce hops for breweries in the Pacific North West may have reached a tipping point, impacting the future availability of craft beer.
Climate change is hurting craft breweries
IRINA IVANOVA MONEYWATCH November 1, 2017, 5:00 AM
First it came for the wine. Now, climate change is set to put a damper on the world’s supply of beer.
Small breweries in the Pacific Northwest are struggling with a shortage of hops, a key ingredient in beer. Washington, Oregon and Idaho grow almost all the hops in the country, according to the US Department of Agriculture, and those states have seen increasingly harsher droughts over the past few years.
Two years ago, an unusually warm winter led to widespread drought in Washington’s Yakima Valley, a situation that could repeat itself this year. Scientists say these warm winters will likely become standard in another 50 years.
“We are reaching this kind of tipping point,” said NASA climate scientist Joshua Fisher. “What we’ve been used to in terms of how much rain we’re going to get and how plants grow is no longer the norm.”
…
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-is-hurting-craft-breweries/
In parched Australia we’re used to climate doomsday prophets proclaiming the end of rain after every dry spell, only to see their silly predictions washed away by the next deluge.
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“Two years ago, an unusually warm winter led to widespread drought in Washington’s Yakima Valley, a situation that could repeat itself this year.”
Well now this is a fascinating claim, for a couple of very obvious reasons:
1) As of the publication date of this quote, the NWS records for Yakima show precipitation at 53% above normal for the calendar year to date.
2) When I went to weather.gov to look up the specific rainfall numbers, the featured story on the homepage featured the forecast that: “A series of cold weather systems will bring 1 to 2 feet of snow to the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies the next several days.”
3) The continued development of a La Nina is forecast for this winter. La Ninas are associated with increased rainfall and decreased temperatures in the Pacific Northwest.
Now since we’re talking about weather, there “could” be an unusually warm winter and widespread drought in the Yakima Valley that will decrease hop production this coming year, but I’m struggling to find any reason to think that is a likely scenario.
Well, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, you’ll be having chilly, stormy weather so you should have enough water soaking in to head off any drought.
It’s worse than we thought! Climate change is causing wet droughts!!!
We will be in Yakima next week. Will visit Hass Hops ( http://www.johnihaas.com/ ) and warn them they are at a tipping point. Likely they will think I’m nuts.
Irrigation is the name of agriculture in the Yakima Valley.
Beer has been made for thousands of years (not locally), so we likely won’t run out.
I guess NASA hasn’t been to the local store.
Oy! Holy Moly! Panic attack! No hops!!! Oh, noes!!!!!
Listen up: hops can be grown in any moderate climate with proper care. Hops grow from small root-like cuttings about a foot long called rhizomes. That means I can grow them in my small yard, if I so desire. The bees would just love them. I’d probably have hummingbirds lining up for a tasting party. The ONLY reason they’re mostly coming from the PacNW is that it’s a major grain crop for the beer industry. Period.
This is ridiculous. Much ado about nothing. A tempest in a teapot.
I will stick to Guinness stouts and follow it with a hearty pizza.
I haven’t seen anything as silly as the titled article’s utter misunderstanding of crop production in a long time – maybe since last week. What’s next? Panicking over winter wheat sprouting late?
Hops? I don’t need no stinking hops!
That’s okay. I brew my own mead. Easy to make, great to taste and the only downside is you have to leave it for a year in the bottle.
Besides hops lowers testosterone so who needs that anyway?
Washington State should be called the ‘never green’ state if you consider summer rainfall for growing stuff. Mostly scrub land. Same for Oregon, and Idaho.
Furthermore, the Columbia River water shed has very little storage other than in the snow pack. Most years there is enough water for irrigation of farms and watering lawns.
Hops are not a big crop in terms of land or income. The big ag industries are apples and milk. Washington State is the number 1 producer of hops in the US.
I have been to Yakima County many times and visited many farms. I can not image why NASA hops grown there as critical issue.
Not to worry – the climate has changed again and everything is fine:
https://weather.com/news/weather/news/pacific-northwest-most-extreme-weather-region-2017
BTW hops are now grown in 30 of the United States. No shortage foreseen.
I don’t know how big Yakima valley is but how can you have a “widespread drought” in one valley? A widespread drought where I live is when you can drive all day without seeing anything green.