If, like me, the success of your day depends largely on your morning coffee intake, then you won’t be pleased to know that getting your morning cup of java love may be threatened by climate change. If there was ever an argument that could get people to live greener lives, this is it!
Global warming is slowly changing conditions in the tropical regions where coffee is grown its threatening future crops. Todd Sanford, a climate scientist from the Union of Concerned Scientists; “Coffee likes a pretty narrow range of temperatures, and one of the hallmarks, really, of climate change will be increased extremes in temperatures. Those of us who enjoy our morning cup of coffee, we may not always realize that future climate change due to extreme temperatures, increased precipitation, really could in some ways put that at risk.”
A study by Kew Gardens substantiated these claims saying climate change could make 99.7 percent of Arabica-growing areas unsuitable for coffee plantations by 2080. According to the study: “Arabica coffee is closely tied to narrow environmental parameters, and like the vast majority of coffee species, it has a restricted and specific distribution. This species is sensitive to environmental variables, particularly temperature and precipitation… and quickly become stressed in degraded habitats.”
The study goes on to say: “It has been forecast that the sustainability of the coffee industry faces serious challenges in the coming decades. The evidence from coffee farmers, from numerous coffee growing regions around the world, is that they are already suffering from the influences [of] increased warming.”
So the zombie apocalypse may happen after all, but just not in the way we thought!