California Farms, Vineyards In Peril From Warming, U.S. Energy Secretary Warns

Early February 2009, the United States' new Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, commenting on the impact of climate change, stated, "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California,"

Chu also submitted that "...California's farms and vineyards could vanish by the end of the century, and its major cities could be in jeopardy, if Americans do not act to slow the advance of global warming".

The article went on to express that "Chu warned of water shortages plaguing the West and Upper Midwest and particularly dire consequences for California, his home state, the nation's leading agricultural producer.

In a worst case, Chu said, up to 90% of the Sierra snowpack could disappear, all but eliminating a natural storage system for water vital to agriculture."

The Secretary of Energy later claimed, "I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen...I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going".

The article later provided that, "A pair of recent studies raise similar warnings. One, published in January in the journal Science, raised the specter of worldwide crop shortages as temperatures rise. Another, penned by UC Berkeley researchers last year, estimated California has about $2.5 trillion in real estate assets -- including agriculture -- endangered by warming."

ORIGINAL SOURCE: The Los Angeles Times