Climate change can affect the quality of coffee grown globally. According to a review published in Frontiers in Plant Science, coffee quality is vulnerable to climate shifts. (Quality include taste, aroma, yield, sustainability and even nutritional quality.) Researchers from the Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy together with Montana State University assessed the effects of 10 prevalent environmental factors and management conditions associated with climate change and adaptation. Their detailed findings have implications for the livelihood of farmers as well as anyone who enjoys a cup of coffee.
Coffee is grown on over 12.5 million farms (predominantly small), comprising over 17 million acres in over 50 nations, many of which are feeling the impacts of climate change - including too much sunlight exposure, water stress, increases in temperature and carbon dioxide.
How can the effects be mitigated? They require controlling light exposure, cultivating climate-resilient coffee plants and pest management - some of which makes coffee less "natural". Who wants to tamper with Mother Nature? Furthermore, those policies are going to make that cup of Joe more expensive. So let's focus on the root of the problem - climate change.
Let's work together to protect our coffee.