It’s no secret that climate change will affect most industries in some shape or form. But did you ever think of how it could affect the precious Scotch business?
Similarly to the planet, the whisky industry is heating up, with distillers in Scotland revealing that during last year’s summer heat wave they came to a standstill after they ran out of water. Now it’s personal.
Will booze be the straw that breaks the camel’s back when it comes to climate action? With the Scotch industry feeling the heat, we sure hope so.
Speaking to The Guardian, Calum Fraser of the Glenfarclas distillery in Scotland said: “we lost the whole of September, the entire month was shot largely because we didn’t have the spring water we needed, the distillery’s private natural spring had run dry.”
This was not the only case of droughts affecting Scotch, with the Scottish Edradour distillery losing production days as well. Heat waves in these areas have the potential to affect a good part of the entire Scotch industry, which inevitably contributes to the United Kingdom economy, having grown by 10% since 2016 according to an industry body.
With world-leading scientists warning that there are only 11 years to act on climate change in a bid to keep global warming at a maximum level of 1.5C, it’s no doubt that urgent action must be taken. Especially if inaction means I’ll never get to enjoy a crisp Scotch and dry again.
