“Washington is a great place to start to talk about adaptation,” said Kirti Rajagopalan, a WSU biological systems engineer and study co-author, who is also working on the project.
More information:
Shawn Preston et al, Changing climate risks for high-value tree fruit production across the United States, Environmental Research Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ad90f4
Journal information:
Environmental Research Letters
Researchers analyzed over 40 years of climate conditions that impact the growth cycle of apple trees from bud break and flowering through fruit development, maturation and color development.
“What goes on in different seasons can affect long-term health as well as the performance and productivity of the apple tree during that specific season,” he said. “So what goes on in the winter affects what happens in the spring, which affects the summer, and it just keeps going around in a cycle.”
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Growers are already adapting, he added, noting that in Washington state, producers are employing measures such as netting and evaporative cooling to fend off sunburn during the more frequent extreme heat.
With more climate risks likely, researchers are also taking steps to help the industry adapt. Kalcsits is leading a project to help mitigate the impact of extreme climate events on apple and pear crops. Work is planned across the nation as well as in the apple-growing regions of Washington state.
While many growing areas are facing increased climate risks, the top three largest apple-producing counties in the U.S. were among the most impacted: Yakima in Washington, Kent in Michigan and Wayne in New York. In particular, Yakima County, the largest of the three with more than 48,800 acres of apple orchards, has seen harmful trends in five of the six metrics the researchers analyzed.
For this study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the researchers analyzed climate data from 1979–2022.
Citation:
Prime apple growing areas in US face increasing climate risks (2025, January 6)
retrieved 6 January 2025
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