The Climate Institute recently released a new report, commissioned by Fairtrade Australia & New Zealand, which indicates the severe impact climate change is having and will continue to have on coffee growing countries, according to the Guardian.
Since the 1960s, there has already been a 50 percent decline in production. Extreme temperatures and unusual high-altitude rains cause more pest and disease problems, resulting in lost crops.
How significantly climate change will impact coffee growers depends on the region. For example, Nicaragua could lose the majority of its coffee-growing areas by 2050, and in Tanzania, coffee yields were projected to reach “critically low levels” by 2060. By 2080, scientists believe all wild coffee (used for genetic diversity of farmed coffee) will be extinct.
For the coffee consumer, all this will impact price as well as the flavor and aroma of America's favorite hot beverage.
