Fishy claim: ‘climate change will ruin Cioppino’ – facts show otherwise

Some excerpts from the Bay Area News Group story by Lisa Krieger

Arrivederci, cioppino? Climate change stirs up a futile recipe for San Francisco signature dish

Beloved foods will feel the stresses of a warming planet

On the eve of the Global Climate Action Summit, thousands of people are converging in San Francisco to save melting icebergs, endangered wildlife and drowning cities.

But imagine, if you can, a life with less cioppino.

Created in the late 1800s by Italian immigrants in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, the famed fish stew is one of many beloved foods – ranging from wine to sourdough bread — that’s likely to feel the stresses of climate change, researchers say. While the fate of one dish is far from a threat to humankind, it illustrates the far-reaching impact of something much bigger.

“Climate change will have profound effects on our global food systems on all levels,” said Alex Halliday, director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute. “It threatens our ability to produce food causing disruptions in prices, quality and earnings.”

The Golden Gate Restaurant Association reports that restaurants already are facing challenges with seafood and crop availability. “Just two years ago the water temperature led to issues with the start of crab season,” said director Gwyneth Borden, “and scientists suggest that climate change can lead to crops being less nutritional, which doesn’t even address the impact of taste.”

To draw attention to the plight, about 60 Bay Area restaurants — including such favorites as San Francisco’s Tartine Bakery, Healdsburg’s Shed and all Bay Area locations of Sweetgreen and Onigilly — are going carbon neutral for “Zero Foodprint Dining Week” through a combination of practical changes and financial contributions.

The fate of recipes will vary, because each ingredient responds differently to the many influences of climate change, according to Tapan B. Pathak of UC Merced’s Division of Agricultural and Natural Resources.

“Increases in temperature, higher variability in precipitation trends, increased frequency and intensity of extreme events such as drought, heat waves, and floods are expected to impact agriculture in California,” said Pathak, whose research on the impact of climate on California’s $50 million agricultural market recently was published in the journal Agronomy.

If we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists say, there’s still time to limit the risk to our foods.

Read the full story here

First, I don’t much care for Cioppino, so if it disappears, especially in San Francisco, I won’t be shedding tears.

But the reality is that this is nothing but a scare story. In the article, the writer goes on to say there will be less seafood, tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil and red bell peppers, along with a lack of sourdough bread due to declining wheat production and of course, less wine. All due to  “A global temperature increase of 1 degree Celsius”.

Newsflash, we’ve already had that temperature increase over the last 100 years, and we are producing more wheat, wine, seafood, and vegetables than ever before.

Hothouse tomatoes and vegetables such as bell peppers are wildly popular, especially with the organics crowd. Just look at this trend from one country, the Netherlands, where it’s normally too cold to grow tomatoes:

That increase is mirrored in North America, which has had a huge increase in greenhouse tomato production.

Then there’s shrimp from the photo above. Much of the shrimp provided to restaurants these days is farm grown. Crab farming is on the increase, and so is Lobster farming, with the restaurant chain Red Lobster building the world’s largest lobster farm. Octopus farming and squid farming is now taking off. But despite that, natural populations of octopus and squid are booming worldwide, thanks to…climate change.

I’m not too worried. Seafood farming will eventually outpace natural sources.

Wheat production is way up globally, despite an increase in temperature over the last century.

Then there’s wine. Global wine production dropped to a 60 year low in 2017:

While it would be convenient to blame global warming in it’s role as the “universal boogeyman” for all things bad, the fact is, it was a bad winter in Europe that was to blame:

The group blamed the production slump on poor weather conditions in Europe in 2017, including a late-winter frost that hampered the harvest. European wine production dropped 15% overall in 2017, the group said. Spain’s wine production fell 20% last year, while France’s dropped 19% and Italy’s declined 17%, according to Reuters calculations.

Europe makes up about 65% of global wine production.

Other regions fared better. U.S. wine production was largely stable, despite last year’s wildfires in California, which ended up doing less damage to vineyards than originally feared. Australian production also remained about even, while South American harvests largely recovered from 2016’s disastrous El Niño and South African output gained despite a lingering drought.

It seems reporter Lisa Krieger isn’t capable of basic research, but would rather write an alarming story to go along with the group-think climate catastrophe party in San Francisco.