According to out from space imaging,started since there are spy satellite,out there in space,the Ice is melting for sure,the Northwest passage is totally open to navigation,if desired,today, so it is a fact.
Why is Worming is subject to debate, What it means for climate in places like NJ,is:
More rain,and Floods in the Summer.
I was growing many fig cultivars in my back yard row,in order to find cold hardy cultivars,mainly.
It turns out that my most important Job is to find cultivars that resist rain,while getting ripe,in order to cope with future climatic condition.
So I will pay more attention to this kind of cultivars and select them accordingly.
This will not be easy because ,ripe figs and rain pouring in top of them ,and with roots swimming in water is a NO,NO.
If you have a cultivar that really resist rain without,splitting souring,and filling with water let all us know on this Forum.
I already have a cultivar,I think should become a success here
:Col de Dame,Black,White and Grey.
This fig is very resistant to rain,and Spring Frost,because it form Fruits later ,in June.
Late,Spring frost,is a problem here too.
It get ripe late in September and October here,but if climate get warmer,then it will get ripe sooner,like close to September 1st.
That is an advantage here because the Hurricane season worse rain are in August.
Why this cultivar is not all over in here in the old USA.
That is ,because of the same reasons we lost most of our manufacturing Jobs in this country.
Greed.
Why?
Well:California reaserch programs would have never been getting Funds,if the scientists,at the time ,would have been notifying the government,that Spain have a valuable common fig,Col de Dame,and they use it for Fresh dry,and preserves uses with success,and in top of all that this cultivar is much more flavorful,sweet ,superior,in resistance to diseases,and rain,doesn't need pollination,compared to Calimyrna figs(that does), or any other cultivar we have or hope to hybridize.
The results would have been that we would have been buying ,fig Newtons,today,made with Col de Dame paste,they would be more reddish inside from the dark red interior of Col de Dame, but way more tasty,and I guaranty you we all could not live without them.
The bad about it:
Ira Condit,and his team would not have had a well paid job creating bland tasting hybrids,like Conadria, Excell,and most numbered selections,in Davis collection inventories.

To continue with my main subject
A lot of people all over USA,will need to replace their present fig tree to comply with change in climate.

Herman, this will not be an easy task for sure specially for us in cooler climates. Having shorter summers and longer winter's we are limited to what varieties we can grow succesfully. With that being said, there is no harm in trying to grow figs like coll de dame here I too thought I was crazy for trying until I had some ripe CDD at adriano's 1st week of September how is this possible? Well same way Martin does his fig shuffle definately helps with late ripening figs that have very good qualities like coll de dame does, it does real well under rainy conditions and when you eat a ripe coll de dame you are lost for words.

I guess we cant have all of the qualities that we want in one fig for example, hardiness, early Ripening, rain resistant, Good flavour, productive but 3 or 4 out of 5 I can work with and flavour & Hardiness definately has to be one of the main qualities.

The good thing is that I am sure there are quite a few figs growing in the south with most of these qualities as they were bred specifically for these reasons.

My Hollier has done real well here and taste's very good.

Herman,

If you think telling your kids there is no Santa Clause is tough, imagine having to tell them there is no North Pole...

Are there CDD varieties available without the virus from UCD?

Good,

I always stayed away from growing Col de Dame in Zone 5 north because all description had mentioned it as 'late ripening'. Now I may think of adding a  Col de Dame (Black) to my collection and by the time it grows and start producing in numbers our area growing season might have one or two extra weeks at either end of the growing season. But I am always afraid of changing climate (even for the better in my area) because one can't be sure of the side effects here or other places (though extra growing season will be a welcome thing).

Yes, whatever ,cuttings get here from Spain are healthy and grow just Fine.
I have two young plants Grise and Black,and next year I expect ripe fruits.
I do have a handful of fruits on them now ,but not sure they will ripe on such young plants.
But climate is ok to ripe this cultivar as I had Col de Dame white from UCD and got ripe on September 10.
But then next year collapsed and died,totally,due to Fig mosaic virus+winter cold here,both combined did it in..

I hear what you're saying H2. From the looks of things, climate change will mean longer, hotter, and much dryer summers for us in the midwest. It may also mean milder winters for us.

This might be of benefit to much of the northern mid states for a time but the long-term downside just may be far worse than we can imagine at this time. So zones 5 & 6 may enjoy growing some more sub-tropical type fruits in the future (That would be nice) but, unfortunately, I fear our joy might be short lived.

Not trying to be a doomsdayer but things like rising sea levels, Malaria in the gulf states, and eventual drop in global tempuratures would really be a downside. I mention the eventual drop in global temps since the melting polar ice will eventually cool down the oceans on a global scale. This could cause the "global ocean conveyor belt" to shut down http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/conveyor.html . I don't think anyone knows the full implications of this but it could cause a mini ice age according to some scientists.

Sorry if I'm sounding a bit technical but this just happens to be an area of interest for me. And I'm certainly not a specialist in this area either but I have tried to pay attention anytime I hear or read something on global warming/global climate change.  

What Bill is saying about ice melting can be a problem ,and cool the climate not warm it,but it makes sense.
At this point I can see that rain is here to stay in the north east,and we got to try to grow most resistant to rain, cultivars.
Let's hope the existent average temperature will stay the same because if they do,on the east coast of USA,there is enough hot Summer time to ripe most cultivars,included the late season,ones,the rain is our main problem so far.

Edit Note:Just Like I said:It was raining the last 4 days every day and the forecast is rain every day for next 7 days.
When will it stop?

I have been sympathizing with you folks on the east coast this season. You have been getting far more than your share of rain this year. It was the opposite for me in W KY for at least 2 months during the hottest part of the summer. No rain with 100+ temps.

Our hot weather seemed to have a good effect on those Haikel trees H2. They were big and plump and very tastey this year in spite of little rain at a critical time. I will say that they are far better than Italian Honey figs (no question) and even a little better than HC and MBVS in my opinion. I can't wait until my tree starts giving me ripe fruits :) .