How May Changes in Winter-time Cold Air Outbreaks Affect Fruit Production (credit: Climate Central)

DISCUSSION: As we continue to move further into the 21 Century, there is no debate that one of the leading concerns with respect to the future of mankind is the ability of society to maintain effective procedures conducive for longer-term sustainability.  A pertinent issue with respect to the issue of global sustainability is learning how to better maintain global products of critical fruits and vegetables in the presence of a continually evolving global climate.  On that note, one of the more premiere concerns is tied to the fact that depending upon how future cold air outbreak prevalence changes with time, that can directly impact Spring-time fruit production.  This is directly a result of the fact that most fruit trees actually require a period of time during the Winter-time months wherein they enter a "rest period."  It is during this period of rest that a given species of fruit tree essentially "re-charges" for the following fruit-bearing season.

If a given species of fruit tree does not get this much-needed period of rest during the Winter-time months (as reflected by the graphic attached above), then the beneficial effect of any initial Winter-time chilling is reversed and can often greatly negatively impact the net production of fruit during the following harvest season.  However, when there is a longer-term period of colder air in place during the course of a given Winter season, this helps to more effectively provide a longer "chilling season" for various species of major fruit trees.  Therefore, there is a clear threshold within which fruit trees can successfully achieve a maximum state of "Winter-time rest."  Yet, if it gets too cold within the given fruit tree itself and the upper-most layers of the soil, excessively cold temperatures can also have a collective negative impact on seasonal fruiting potential for a given fruit tree species. 

Thus, it will be critical to maximize both where and when fruit harvesting is conducted world-wide and how we act to increase sustainable use of planet Earth's natural resources as we get deeper into the 21 Century.  That is, if we are going to continue living on a planet in which we can consistently have a globally sustainable production of fruit (and vegetables for that matter).

To learn more about other interesting and important issues pertaining to global climate variability, be sure to click here!

© 2018 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz