Coffee could be extinct by 2080

Coffee, beloved by so many, and crucial for getting through Monday mornings, could disappear for good thanks to global warming in the not too distant future.

Worryingly, a new report by The Climate Institute has suggested that coffee could be entirely extinct by 2080 if global warming continues.

The report says that by 2050 half of the world’s coffee farming land could be useless due to rising temperatures which can encourage the growth of fungi and pests.

Jim Hanna, the Sustainability Director for Starbucks told the Telegraph:

What we are really seeing as a company as we look 10, 20, 30 years down the road - if conditions continue as they are - is a potentially significant risk to our supply chain. If we sit by and wait until the impacts of climate change are so severe that is impacting our supply chain then that puts us at a greater risk.

Fungi such as coffee leaf rust have been spreading in Central America, while a pest called the coffee berry borer, usually found on lower ground, has been found at higher levels than ever before in Tanzania.

These factors could affect everything from coffee flavour, to price and availability.

If that wasn't enough, the report itself warned:

Without strong action to reduce emissions, climate change is projected to cut the global area suitable for coffee production by as much as 50 per cent by 2050. By 2080, wild coffee, an important genetic resource for farmers, could become extinct.

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