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Climate Change Is Already Hurting The World's Most-Consumed Coffee Bean

posted by CoolHand on Thursday May 07 2015, @08:42PM   
from the don't-mess-with-my-coffee dept.

"gewg_" writes:
The Center for American Progress reports

For years, studies have warned that a warmer planet might mean fewer cups of morning coffee--but a new study claims that rising temperatures are already taking their toll on East Africa's coffee crops.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, found that Tanzania's production of Arabica coffee--the most-consumed coffee species in the world--has fallen by 46 percent since 1966. Over the same period of time, the average nighttime temperature in Tanzania increased 1.4 degrees Celsius.

[...]The researchers analyzed the impact of climate variables on crop yield. Through statistical analysis, they found that increasing temperature had a negative effect on coffee yields --- but the specific interaction between temperature and coffee growth surprised them.

"We've always known that high temperatures and low rainfall impact coffee," [Alessandro Craparo, a co-author of the study] said. "What this study found, and what's really important, is its nighttime temperatures that are increasing at a rapid rate and having a bigger impact on coffee than what's happening in the day."

Arabica coffee is a sensitive plant that needs cool nights in order to thrive. For each 1-degree Celsius rise in nighttime temperatures, the researchers found, Arabica coffee yields declined by an average of 302 pounds of coffee per hectare, almost half of the typical small producer's entire yield. If trends continue as they have in previous decade, the study says, Arabica yields in Tanzania will drop to around 320 pounds per hectare by 2060.

• Is there any intelligenge in jmorris' posts? Is there any intelligenge in jmorris' posts? (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 07 2015, @11:54PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 07 2015, @11:54PM (#180103)

  On the long-shot that you might actually know something of value, I plugged some terms into Google and found...

  Coffee Party FACT CHECK [coffeepartyusa.com]

  Q: Is Coffee Party USA affiliated with billionaire George Soros, the founder [of] Soros Fund Management and Open Society Institute?

  A: No. Democracy in Action is a vendor that licenses Internet technology for websites. In the early days of CoffeeParty, we used their technology to organize events and receive donations. Democracy in Action has received funding from Mr. Soros, but Coffee Party USA has not received any money from either the Open Society Institute or from Mr. Soros.

  Coffee Party - Who We Are [coffeepartyusa.com]

  Our activities often center around encouraging inclusive, civil, fact-based, solution-oriented dialogue--online and in public places such as coffee houses

  So, clearly they are the opposite of the Reactionary Right and its propaganda arm (Fox so-called News--or pretty much any of Lamestream Media, to include PBS and NPR)[1]

  In summary, is jmorris simply a loon?
  As demonstrated innumerable times before: Yes.

  [1] Has anyone found any discussion of TPP (the Trans-Pacific Partnership aka SHAFTA) on any of those?

  -- gewg_

  Parent

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• Re:Is there any intelligenge in jmorris' posts? (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @02:01AM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 08 2015, @02:01AM (#180146)

  > [1] Has anyone found any discussion of TPP (the Trans-Pacific Partnership aka SHAFTA) on any of those?

  You are willing to google jmorris's bullshit, but you won't google your own?

  Parent