US (AK): Global warming threatens peony growers
But as average temperatures in Alaska increase due to greenhouse-gas emissions, the state’s peony farmers are left wondering if their new enterprise may be nipped in the bud. Peonies are grown around the world in a variety of climates, but they’re typically available only for a short time, from late spring to early summer. That gives Alaskan growers a competitive advantage: While peony farms in Chile, the Netherlands, and Canada have generally peaked by May and June, Alaska’s late summers and midnight sun means near-Arctic farmers have peonies available in July and August. This advantage could disappear, however, if climate change shifts the Alaska season so that it overlaps with growers in the other parts of the world.
Alaska has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the United States (and other parts of the planet). Over the past 60 years, the state has jumped 3 degrees Fahrenheit on average, but 6 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. Peonies need a cold winter to flower, and rely on the snow to insulate their roots. But parts of Alaska are already seeing an earlier spring and a later fall. “For peony farmers, that’s not a good thing,” says Nancy Fresco, a climate-change researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who is developing climate projections for the state’s peony growers to better understand which climate variables will most affect the new industry. “Their niche market is relying on growing peonies later than everyone else.”
Climate change could pose more challenges for the showy flower as well. Larger, more frequent wildfires could drop ash on growing buds, damaging crops that cannot afford the tiniest of imperfections. Flooded fields from increased rain could delay fall planting, and more freezing rain could damage roots. For the most part, Alaska’s peony farmers have not had to worry about pests yet, but that too could change. “We’re going to lose the coldness of winter that keeps out some of the pests and fungus,” says Fresco.
Read more at The Atlantic (Hannah Hoag)
