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Post by rugbytoffee on Sept 3, 2016 14:08:24 GMT
Coffee could become extinct if global warming continues on its current trajectory, according to a report by The Climate Institute.
By 2050, researchers said, the amount of suitable coffee farmland is expected to have halved due to rising temperatures, pests and fungi.
Wild coffee is expected to be wiped from the face of the planet by the year 2080.
The disappearance of the coffee plant would have a profound impact on the 120 million people worldwide whose livelihoods depend its beans – many of whom live in the world’s poorest nations.
For several of the 70 countries in the world which produce coffee, the industry is central to their economy. More than half (59 per cent) of earnings from exports in Burundi are from the product, while the beans make up a third (33 per cent) of Ethiopia’s exports and 17 per cent of Nicaragua's.
The majority of the coffee farmers are smallholders, meaning they are particularly vulnerable to a volatile market.
Coffee-drinkers are also expected to see flavour and aroma seriously impacted – alongside soaring prices for the ever-scarcer beans.
“Looking ahead, it is hard to see how consumer prices cannot be anything but badly affected by the projected long-term decline in growing area and other impacts of a more hostile climate,” the report said.
“More and more extreme weather events in major coffee-producing regions seem set to create supply shortages, and hotter conditions will impair flavour and aroma.
“Even instant coffee is likely to be hit hard in a world of 3°C or more.”
Dramatic changes are expected as a consequence of the increasing threats to the crops. Over the next few decades, coffee production is expected to move away from the equator and up mountains, causing deforestation.
It is not just the rising heat that will harm the crops. Climate change is expected to bring with it the spread of fungi that devastates the plants.
After a period of unusually high temperatures and rains in 2012, Central American crops were infected with a wage of Coffee Leaf Rust, resulting in 350,000 labourers in the region being put out of work in the region. In Columbia, the fungus is being reported in the mountains, where it was previously too cold for it to survive.
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Post by Avinalaff on Sept 3, 2016 16:34:20 GMT
I stopped drinking coffee for about 5 years but have the odd cup again now.
It's strange that things we take for granted can be in danger of disappearing.
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Post by rugbytoffee on Sept 3, 2016 16:50:10 GMT
I love my coffee . Just found out these. Splendid stuff imo,
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Post by evertonfan1968 on Sept 3, 2016 19:05:07 GMT
I love my coffee . Just found out these. Splendid stuff imo, Ground coffee is nice, I'll give you that. Do you have a coffee machine?
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Post by rugbytoffee on Sept 3, 2016 19:52:04 GMT
I love my coffee . Just found out these. Splendid stuff imo, Ground coffee is nice, I'll give you that. Do you have a coffee machine? Yep....Love it.
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