WARNING:Global warming can make you drunk.

It is the reason why that glass of wine is making you tipsy just a tad faster than normal.

"All over the world, alcohol levels are going up," said British wine critic Jancis Robinson at the WineFuture conference, citing just one problem producers are facing as a result of rising temperatures.

With the Copenhagen climate change summit looming, the world of wine convened in Spain's Rioja region for a conference in which global warming emerged as the industry's top concern.

"Champagne alcohol levels are becoming embarrassingly high," she added, meaning that the heat which is raising the alcohol content changes both the texture and personality of a wine.

Global warning is also hurting warmer wine-producing regions around the world such as Australia, where water shortages are contributing to the demise of many wineries, Ms Robinson told AFP.

"Farmers in Spain don't have enough water," she continued, "Spanish wine has always been pretty dry and concentrated, but the last few vintages have reached a crisis point."

Mr Miguel Torres, president of Bodegas Miguel Torres in Spain put the rise in temperatures in stark terms.

He said: "If temperatures in Europe go up by 5 deg C, we won't be able to grow grapes and I don't want to have to explain to my grandchildren why we did nothing."

Wine producers aren't the only ones worried about the rising temperatures. Climate change researchers have found that:

1 Developing countries now greatly outrank rich countries as the world's biggest source of carbon emissions, a switchover that occurred in 2005.

2 But, a quarter of their growth in emissions can be accounted for by increased trade with the West. In China alone, 50 per cent of the growth in emissions from 2002 to 2005 came from the country's export industries.

3Coal surpassed oil as an emissions source for the first time in decades. It accounted for 40 per cent of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels in 2008, compared with 36 per cent for oil.

4WorldwideCO2 emissions in 2009 are predicted to fall by 2.8 per cent in response to the financial crisis, signalling a return to 2007 levels. But emissions could rise anew,depending on a pick-up in economic activity, efforts to improve energy efficiency and the outcome of talks next month to tackle climate change.

This article was first published in The New Paper.