France

THE LARGEST AMONG the nations of Western Europe, France boasts a long history of world leadership in the arts, sciences, and industrialization. As the first decade of the 21st century nears its end, France remains an influential nation with a Gross Domestic Product of $2,124 billion, and the sixth largest economy in the world. The nation's moderate climate and its ample agricultural land have made it the European Unions largest agricultural producer, ranking second only to the United States in the world market. Its varied coastlines, mountain ranges, vineyards, and cities rich in culture and tradition make France one of the most popular tourist sites in the world. Like other wealthy Western nations, France has been confronted with the problems attending urbanization, industrialization, and the loss of open space. In 1971, France created the Ministry of the Environment to develop solutions to these problems on a national level; later, the country became a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol and to two-dozen other international efforts to address the problems on regional and world levels.

Global warming is of particular concern to France because temperatures have increased since 1950 in France at nearly twice the average rate. The French remember summer 2003 and the more than 15,000 deaths in their country, and environmentalists have warned that future summers could be much hotter. The nation's extensive coastline also renders it particularly vulnerable to the changes in sea streams that accompany global warming. More than a fifth of the French coast already shows signs of erosion. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) set up by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) to assess factors connected to climate change, estimates that sea levels by 2100 could rise at a rate three times that of the 20th century. The government has built artificial reefs in an effort to contain erosion, but experts hold little hope that such measures can stem the damage over the long term.

Increases in water temperature and deforestation are among the consequences of climate changes already in progress. These changes have led to the extinction of some species of fish and the spread of the Asian Hornet. The latter, which may have arrived in France from the Far East via a shipment of Chinese pottery in 2004, pose a major threat to France's beekeepers. Experts report that it takes only a few of the hornets to destroy a nest of 30,000 bees.

Of even greater concern are the effects upon France's renowned wine industry, which contributes $13 billion to the nation's economy and is intricately linked to French culture. The immediate effects of higher temperatures were beneficial, as warming produced wines with higher sugar and alcohol levels and lower acidity. However, droughts have plagued Provence and other areas of southern France, and even the northernmost areas of Alsace and Champagne have experienced harvest seasons that have moved from the traditional October harvests to as early as August. Bernard Seguin, a French climatologist, compared a one degree increase in temperature in a vineyard to moving the vineyard 124 mi. (200 km.) south. Scientists point out that the highly detailed records maintained [Page 433]on wine grapes over generations along with the grapes' unusual sensitivity to climate changes make them a valuable tool for studying effects of the changes on the rest of the ecosystem.

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