Climate change hits home: Key baking ingredients are about to become scarce unless we start living more sustainable lifestyles.

Santa and his polar bear neighbors in the North Pole aren't the only ones dealing with climate change. At first glance, the impacts of climate change in the United States might seem less dramatic than melting icebergs in the Arctic. But scientists are starting to figure out how greenhouse-gas emissions are beginning to threaten some of the things Americans love the most—including holiday traditions like ham and wine. "Global warming has certainly been observed very robustly, and we understand the processes by which humans are causing it quite well," explains Noah Diffenbaugh, a Woods Institute for the Environment fellow and assistant professor of earth science at Stanford University. "But there's also a lot of uncertainty in what will happen in future…what will people do in response to climate change?"

Perhaps there's no better motivation than trying to save these 7 things we love about Christmas.

Holiday Ham
Part of Diffenbaugh's research includes researching how climate change affects pest patterns. Corn—one of the main commodity crops used to feed pigs bound for the supermarket—is threatened by not only climate-related drought and flooding, but also by the corn earworm, and damage from the pest is projected to worsen in the coming decades, thanks to warmer winters. In fact, we're already seeing the scenario unfold: Bacon prices surged over the summer, thanks to climate-related troubles in cornfields. For a holiday pork that's healthier for you and the planet, choose grass-fed pork products.

Jeans
Blue jeans are a holiday gift staple because almost everyone can always use a new pair. But water shortages and drought are having an impact on cotton production, causing price fluctuations and even a shortage in denim. According to a recent New York Times report, a pair of jeans uses 919 gallons of water during its life cycle, enough to fill 15 spa-size bathtubs. Worried that climate change–caused water shortages could threaten the very existence of the jeans industry, Levi Strauss has developed a nonprofit to teach farmers how to harvest rainwater for irrigation, introduced a brand that uses zero water during the stone-washing process, and even urges people to wash the jeans less.

For more earth-friendly jeans, choose organic brands—organic farming methods protect the soil, and healthy soil holds more water reserves to help in times of drought. Better yet, shop for used jeans.

Holiday Cookies
Some must-have ingredients for holiday cookies and other baking projects are already feeling the climate change pinch. Peanut butter prices are spiking after the southern U.S. saw one of the worst harvests in decades, thanks to out-of-the-ordinary extreme heat over the summer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the peanut harvest is down nearly 15 percent compared to last year. Likewise, extreme temperatures in Texas have hampered pecan production, while a study published this spring in the journal Science found that yields of wheat are down about 5 percent since the 1980s.

California Wine
Some of the country's best wine comes from the high-quality grapes grown in California, but warming projections for the area could cut wine production in half within 30 years, according to Diffenbaugh's research. "The temperatures won't be suitable," he says, adding that farmers will have to adapt to try and overcome excessive heat conditions. In fact, prime wine production could wind up in Oregon in the coming years.