A bad apple season has some U.S. fruit growers planning for life in a warmer world

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/20/ [login to see] /a-bad-apple-season-has-some-u-s-fruit-growers-planning-for-life-in-a-warmer-worl
Chuck and Diane Southers' thermal alarm went off around 10:30 p.m. on a fateful night in mid-May.

The alarm takes the temperature out in their 30-acre orchard and blares loudly if it dips too low. That Thursday night in Concord, New Hampshire, it was about 35 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature kept getting colder.

The Southers' apple orchard was in full bloom, which is normal for mid-May. This year's was particularly good.

"We called it a popcorn bloom," Diane Souther said. "The tree was just white with flowers."

By Friday morning, all the petals were turning brown. The Southers cut open baby apples, about the size of a pencil eraser. Their sap had frozen, expanded, and, in the process, the cells and seeds were destroyed.