Your Morning Cup of Coffee Is in Danger. Can the Industry Adapt in Time?

Howard Schultz wants to know if I drink coffee. The Starbucks boss is sitting on a balcony overlooking the company’s leafy farm in the Costa Rican province of Alajuela, where I’m told the coffee–harvested and roasted on-site–is a must-try. Like more than 60% of Americans, I drink coffee at least once a day, and sometimes I indulge twice or even three times. The Costa Rican blend Schultz pours me has a special taste that mixes citrus and chocolate flavors.

Workers weed coffee plants at a Starbucks-owned coffee
farm in Costa Rica, where climate change could damage
the health of the industry.

 

Read the Time magazine story - “Your Morning Cup of Coffee Is in Danger. Can the Industry Adapt in Time?”

Coffee cup recycler combats 'busy' culture

It seems Australians are too busy to sit down and have a coffee these days and the "throwaway" culture means millions of coffee cups are piling up in landfill and damaging the environment.

Using takeaway coffee cups is a bad habit.

But an Australian recycling company claims to have the solution - if you're not too busy to help.

Rob Pascoe, founder of Simply Cups, says the number of disposable coffee cups being used is growing steadily alongside the coffee culture and a prevailing feeling of "being busy all the time”.

"We've become so fast-paced, so busy and so reliant on convenience that we've become a throwaway society," he told AAP.

Read the story from goodfood from The Age by Benita Kolovos - “Coffee cup recycler combats 'busy' culture.”

A Parable From Down Under for U.S. Climate Scientists

HOBART, TASMANIA — John A. Church, a climate scientist, did not look or sound like a man who had recently been shoved out of a job.

John Church in Hobart in September 2010.
He is known internationally for helping to
bring statistical and analytical rigor to
 longstanding questions about sea level rise.

Speaking softly and downing coffee at an outdoor cafe in this old port city, he sounded more like a fellow fresh off a jousting match. “I think we had a win — a bigger win than I ever anticipated,” Dr. Church said in an interview last month.

Australian climate science went through an upheaval last year, one that engaged the press and the public in defending the importance of basic research. In the end, Dr. Church did indeed lose his job, but scores of his colleagues who had been marked for layoffs did not. Some of them view him as having sacrificed his career to save theirs.

What happened in Australia shows the power of an informed citizenry keeping watch on its government. And it may turn out to be a precursor to an attack on fundamental climate research in the United States.

Read the story by Justin Gillis in The New York Times - “A Parable From Down Under for U.S. Climate Scientists.”

No more beer, coffee of chocolate: how climate change could ruin your weekend

Driven to destruction … a car after heavy floods in
Grabels, near Montpellier, France in October 2014. 

Climate change is the biggest threat to all of civilisation our species has faced since the 80s. Scientists say rising seas will envelope major cities around the world while heatwaves will bring wildfires and torrential rains bring floods. And the global economy is stuffed.

But as if that wasn’t bad enough, it turns out that climate change might even mess up that most holy of traditions – your weekend.

The world’s most pre-eminent climate scientists have submitted thousands of reports warning of the danger of continuing to spew carbon into the atmosphere. And yet the governments of the world have continued to ignore them.

Thankfully, 42 breweries have weighed in to illuminate us about the true scale of the threat – we might actually run out of beer. 

From California to the Czech Republic, hop production is being hit by rising temperatures and a lack of water. Beer could also start to taste worse, according to the Czechs, but their beer is rubbish anyway.

Read The Guardian story - “No more beer, coffee of chocolate: how climate change could ruin your weekend.”

Coffee is severely threatened by climate change

Don't take this for granted.

Don't take your morning cup of coffee for granted. It may not be around in a few decades, according to a new report.

Coffee is one of the world’s most beloved beverages, but it may not be around much longer. According to a new report released by Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand, coffee is severely threatened by climate change, and the amount of land suitable for coffee production could decrease by 50 percent as soon as 2050.

Read the Treehugger story by Katherine Martinko - “Coffee is severely threatened by climate change.”

Climate change and the global coffee business clash

I

n the past, companies that dominate the global coffee business have managed their supply risk by diversifying their suppliers.

Now a quarter of production in Brazil, the largest producer of high-quality Arabica coffee, is under direct threat from climate change, and rising temperatures are expected to undermine the commercial viability of Arabica coffee in many of the world’s coffee-growing regions.

In the next two decades, this systemic failure across many regions will require companies to radically change their production models and sourcing relationships.

Yes, the price of your favourite coffee will increase due to climate change, but there is hope that the risks involved will change the entire industry for the better.

Read The Guardian story - “Your morning espresso could be about to get a lot more expensive”.

Short video on coffee is timely and salient warning

Should you be like most people, coffee is essential to your daily well-being.

However, climate change is changing the conditions in which coffee prospers and so what is considered by many to “just a beverage” actually provides work for millions of people.

A short video entitled: “Your morning caffeine hit is at risk” has been circulated by the Climate Council and is both a salient and timely warning.

Climate change conversations at Nude, not in the nude

Sunshine Coast supporters of Beneath the Wisteria, of which there are a few, are invited to join me for a discussion on Saturday, June 28, at Cotton Tree’s Nude Café.

A space at the back of the café has tables and chairs and is near ideal for a group discussion.

I will be at the café from 11:00am and discussions could last for up to an hour. Beyond the coffee, it is free!

Of course, being at a café, coffee, food and snacks will be readily available.

The operators are aware of my intention and have no objection, but point out, that tables cannot be booked.

So should you be on the Sunshine Coast and eager to join the climate change conversation, please join me for a chat – Robert McLean.

Health, coffee and chocolate threatened and now it's wine!

Wineries are struggling with warmer
conditions and drier soils.

Your health, coffee, chocolate and now your favourite drop are all threatened by our injured climate.

A story on the ABC’s The World Today headed: “Warmer weather causing trouble for wine growers” tells us that warmer conditions and drier soils are accelerating the ripening process.

The complications this brings for Australia’s wineries are explored in this story.

The aroma of coffee filters through climate change

Because of climate change the
 daily caffeine hit could become difficult
to find and more expensive.

Maybe climate change is about to get the attention is should have had for years and maybe it will arise in a most unlikely way.

The warming of our planet is shifting climatic zones and within that reducing those areas in which coffee can be successfully grown.

And so now the millions of coffee drinkers in Australia, and of course all around the world, will suddenly find and pay for their daily caffeine-hit somewhat more difficult.

Maybe, just maybe, that understandable injury to their lifestyle might be enough to trigger their interest in mitigating climate change or working with an adaptation idea.

Writing in today’s Melbourne Age in a story headed: “Brewed awakening may leave a bitter aftertaste” environmental editor, Tom Arup, has warned of a significant disruption to coffee production as the planet warms.