Too hot to handle: Global warming hits coffee crop
Climate change could impact your morning cup of joe.
Scientists writing in the journal, ScienceDirect, find rising nighttime temperatures in the coffee growing region of Tanzania led to a drop in yields for the Arabica bean crop. The researchers say this is the first direct evidence confirming predictions that climate change is having an effect on coffee growing. They point out it’s likely other Arabica growing regions such as Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Kenya could feel the effects as well. They add:
It may give the coffee sector the hard numbers required to encourage the public and private sectors to invest in climate change adaptation strategies that will better sustain this important industry and the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers who depend on it.
Yahoo Finance Columnist Rick Newman feels hitting Americans in the coffee cup might finally get us to take notice of the impact of rising global temperatures.
“I used to think it would take lower Manhattan being underwater for the United States to care about climate change,” he says. “Now I think if coffee prices soar and quality declines, that will get everybody’s attention and suddenly we’ll have a massive movement to fix climate change.”
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Yahoo Senior Columnist Michael Santoli notes the research shows that unlike some other parts of nature, coffee plants really can’t adapt to a changing environment.
“It points out how delicate the growing conditions are for coffee,” he explains. “There are not a lot of things that require a certain elevation, distance from the equator, shade. You can actually have a lot innovation applied to this and still not necessarily increase the supply much.”
Newman adds that shows the limitations of humans to control nature.
“The interesting thing is the extent innovation and technology can offset problems inherent in a growing environment, something that’s natural. We know we can do that to some extent. So the important part comes when we can no longer innovate our way out of these types of problems and we have to just put it back in the box.”
Newman believes if climate change reduces supply and drives up the price of coffee, customers will be tolerant…to a point.
“They’ll pay a little higher, that’s for sure,” he says. “How high will they go is the question.”
But Santoli points out we’ve heard that refrain before.
“There was a bear case for Starbucks (SBUX) 15 years ago saying nobody would pay $2 a cup,” he notes.
Santoli also takes a bit of a tongue-in-cheek approach to the connection between a hotter planet and java.
“If the world is warmer, people will probably drink less coffee,” he jokes.
“I don’t know about that,” argues Yahoo Finance’s Lauren Lyster. “They’ll drink more iced coffee!"
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