Bad news for syrup lovers: The world's only maple syrup reserve, located in Canada where three-quarters of the world's maple syrup is produced, is at a 16-year low. The harvests have not been great for the past few years—experts say climate change is playing a role in that—and simultaneously, demand is up. The reserve (in Quebec, where 90% of Canada's maple syrup is produced) held just 6.9 million pounds last year when it was built to hold 133 million pounds, the BBC reports. In 2020, it held more than 103 million pounds. The Toronto Star describes its current state as "near empty." Despite the fact that the level hasn't been this low since 2008, though, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers says no immediate shortage or prince jumps are expected.
- The role of climate change: Maple syrup is typically produced between late March and early April, when overnight temperatures drop below freezing and push sap up the trees, and then temps rise above freezing later in the day, allowing it to flow it back down. But warmer springs in 2021 and 2023 caused syrup production to fall.
- A caveat: The springs of 2019 and 2020, however, saw record production, and experts say such fluctuation is normal. The reserve, in fact, was established 24 years ago in order to stabilize the world supply in the face of unpredictable, highly weather-dependent harvests.
- What's next: Canada just had one of its warmest winters on record, but the deputy director general says production has been good so far and the weather for the next few weeks looks promising. In an effort to bolster the reserve supply, millions of new taps have been distributed to producers to increase harvesting.
(Of course, there's always
maple syrup from ... New Jersey?)
,
uBlock 
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and
Ghostery 
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