English wine and global warming
I simply must point everyone to one of the best pieces of science blogging that I have seen. Gavin Schmidt at RealClimate has posted on the state of medieval wine production in England comparing it to the present day and discussing what this might tell us about climate change.
English wine is getting better all the time. English white wines have been able to hold there own with the best for a number of years now and the most recent vintages have produced some of the best reds ever. Red wine needs warmer summers than white wine and that English reds are now ‘very drinkable’ shows that things are hotting up.
But what I want to point out is that the RealClimate post is a well researched and referenced mini-review that would have made a fine contribution to any scientific journal. And I do me any. It is a little disappointing that Gavin can’t use his researchers to imply anything about our attribution of current climate changes to human causes…”Nothing. Nowt. Zero. Zip“…but he is very clear why this is the case.
Posted yesterday it has already attracted twenty two thoughtful, informative and interesting comments that extend and broaden the topic discussed. Science blogging at its absolute best. Third place in Nature/Technorati’s ranking of science blogs is just not high enough.