Cheese ‘n cracked it
CHEDDAR CLIMATE CLUE
CHEESE stored at the bottom of a coal mine is helping to track global warming.
The Blaenafon Cheddar Company matures its products 300ft underground in a
Welsh pit because of its constant temperature.
But the vault has got 0.5C hotter in the past five years.
Now scientists are monitoring the cheese temperature every 15 minutes.
Cheese company boss Susan FianderWoodhouse said: “The temperature started creeping up over five years.
“It has not gone down yet. So scientists are very interested in the data.”
Susan said for nearly 10 years the temperature remained a constant 10.9C.
But she added: “Then all of a sudden there was half of a degree shift. It crept up over a period of weeks. It was really strange.
“It has held static ever since which is really weird.
“We don’t know if something has changed above ground or global warming has finally filtered through.’’