© MARCO BERTORELLO /AFPItaly’s wine production dropped by nine percent in 2021.
According to the latest preliminary figures published by the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) and shared by the agricultural association Coldiretti, global wine production is set to drop to 250.3 million hectoliters in 2021, seven percent below the average for the past 20 years.
This is the third consecutive year that the world's total wine production will fall below average levels, highlights Coldiretti, with the 2021 harvest just above an all-time low of 2017.
The OIV shared its data at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, where world leaders are currently meeting to discuss strategies to combat the effects of the climate crisis.
The drop in production levels is down to "late spring frosts and overall unfavourable weather conditions" linked to climate change, Coldiretti said in a press release on Thursday.
Extreme heatwaves, forest fires, hurricanes, floods and storms have battered Italy throughout 2021, damaging crops and creating havoc for farmers.
In October the country was hit by 20 severe weather events in one day, including tornadoes, hailstorms, windstorms, and torrential rainfall that caused damage to cities and countryside across the peninsula.
The storms "devastated fields, pastures, stables and agricultural vehicles as well as blocking roads and causing landslides and landslides in the countryside," Coldiretti said.
The group estimated that Italy's agricultural industry has lost €2 billion so far this year as a result of extreme weather events.
Despite the hit to its wine production levels, Italy remains the largest producer of wines globally, followed by Spain and then France.
France's wine producers have reportedly suffered particularly bad losses in 2021, seeing a 27 percent reduction in its harvest compared to 2020 following a year of severe frosts, summer rains, hailstorms and diseases.
I want to support those grovelling communist pansies.
Only aussies are putting up with more bullshiite.