As another family trip, my grandparents chose to take my family abroad. In late July of 2022, I went to Tuscany, Italy.
As it has been said many times before, the Tuscan countryside truly is unique. The endless acres of vineyards and olive trees that span the countryside are absolutely breathtaking. Grapes and olives actually thrive in poor-quality loamy soils. There is also a huge sunflower industry in Tuscany, so it is safe to assume that this remains true for sunflowers as well.
The Apennine mountains can be seen in the distance from higher elevations on the countryside, and these mountains essentially form the spine of Italy. The Apennines are composed mostly of sedimentary rocks, similar to the Green Mountain range here in Vermont; however, this mountain range is actually much younger as the Apennine Orogeny happened during the Cenozoic era and the Taconic Orogeny happened during the Cambrian period of the Paleozoic era.
Tuscany is definitely feeling the impacts of climate change as it has been leading to warmer and drier summers. The grapes are significantly impacted by the changes of weather during the growing season and the quality of the wine produced by the grapes evidently changes as well. As wine is an incredibly important part of the Tuscan economy, this is incredibly concerning.
