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Canada’s iconic maple syrup may face climate change challenges

It’s made with sap harvested from sugar maple trees — and those trees may be threatened by rising temperatures.

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Délices Érable & Cie, in Montreal, carries 360 different maple-based products. A changing climate changes the long-term prospects for Canada's sugar maples.
Délices Érable & Cie, in Montreal, carries 360 different maple-based products. A changing climate changes the long-term prospects for Canada's sugar maples.
Emma Jacobs

It’s Canada Day, but the future of perhaps the country’s most iconic product, maple syrup, may be in jeopardy. More than 70% of the world’s maple syrup production comes from Canada’s forests, mostly in the eastern province of Quebec. However, climate change could threaten the industry.

The product is made from sap harvested from sugar maple trees during a short period in spring when conditions are just right. And scientists say rising global temperatures could affect the trees’ entire life cycle, from sap production to reproduction.

“Of the many climate-related crises we’re facing, it’s maybe not the most critical,” said professor Lenore Newman, Canada Research Chair in Food Security and Environment at The University of the Fraser Valley, “but it’s one that hurts and it strikes at our identity.”

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Canada’s iconic maple syrup may face climate change challenges