Coffee
Our changing climate is affecting almost every aspect of coffee production.[1] Just a little warming at the wrong time can in fact reduce yield, flavor, and aroma. In Tanzania, where about 2.5 million people depend on coffee for a livelihood, increases in nighttime temperatures since the 1960s have already caused yields to drop, and severe declines are expected as conditions continue to warm.[2] In parts of Mexico, increasing temperatures could reduce coffee production by over 30%, making it unviable in the 2020s.[3] With continued climate change, the world’s coffee production area will likely be cut in half by 2050.[4] Wild coffee species, critical sources of traits for climate change resilience and pest resistance, might go extinct in coming decades.[5] Globally, climate changes are also resulting in more disease and pest problems.[6] Most harmful is the coffee berry borer, a beetle that is also spreading into new areas as they get hotter.[7] Growing conditions have changed so much and a disease has become such a problem in areas of Central America that coffee production is no longer an option and some farmers are switching to cocoa, which thrives in the warmer weather.[8]
References:
[1] Corey Watts, “A Brewing Storm: The Climate Change Risks to Coffee,” The Climate Institute, August 29, 2016, 1, http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/coffee.html[2] A. C. W. Craparo et al., “Coffea Arabica Yields Decline in Tanzania Due to Climate Change: Global Implications,” Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 207 (July 15, 2015), 1, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2015.03.005.
[3] C. Gay et al., “Potential Impacts of Climate Change on Agriculture: A Case of Study of Coffee Production in Veracruz, Mexico,” Climatic Change 79, no. 3 (December 1, 2006), 259, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-006-9066-x.
[4] Christian Bunn et al., “A Bitter Cup: Climate Change Profile of Global Production of Arabica and Robusta Coffee,” Climatic Change 129, no. 1 (March 1, 2015): 89,https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1306-x.
[5] Aaron P. Davis et al., “High Extinction Risk for Wild Coffee Species and Implications for Coffee Sector Sustainability,” Science Advances 5, no. 1 (January 1, 2019): eaav3473, 1, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aav3473.
[6] Jacques Avelino et al., “The Coffee Rust Crises in Colombia and Central America (2008–2013): Impacts, Plausible Causes and Proposed Solutions,” Food Security 7, no. 2 (April 1, 2015), 303, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-015-0446-9.
[7] Corey Watts, “A Brewing Storm: The Climate Change Risks to Coffee,” The Climate Institute, August 29, 2016, 1, http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/coffee.html.
[8] Luc Cohen and Ivan Castro, “As Climate Change Threatens CentAm Coffee, a Cocoa Boom Is Born,” Reuters, January 18, 2016, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-cocoa-coffee-idUSKCN0UW1AV.
