The greenhouse effect risks making some of Italy's top wines extinct within the next 100 years, according to an article posted on WineNews, 'Italy's pocket wine website'.
Based on a 2006 study by the University of Florence, the article said high temperatures will push Tuscany's 'wine belt' much further north and the region will no longer be able to produce such wines as Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcinio.
Recent evidence presented at the World Economic Forum on Climate Change predicted that by 2100 average temperatures on the Earth will rise by between 1.8 and 4°C, after rising by 1.2°C in the 20th century.
According to the university study, recent climate changes have actually benefited the quality of Tuscan wines.
Since the 1980s, the report observed, the quality of Tucany's top wines has improved significantly thanks above all to higher temperatures.
However, if temperatures climb too high they may damage vines and dry up needed water resources, the study warned.
