[imagesource: FreeGreatPicture]
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that morning cuppa you had to start the day could be a thing of the past in a few decades – roughly three, if we don’t do something quickly.
In short, climate change is coming for your coffee.
Coffee is one of those things that we take for granted, in that it will always be around to take the edge off.
What most people aren’t aware of is how difficult it is to grow.
As the planet warms, the number of places that can sustain the plant is shrinking, and scientists have predicted that by 2050, the amount of land that can sustain coffee will have fallen by 50%.
This, says Vox, might seem like a problem we can put off for a while because we have an excess of the stuff at the moment, but the effects are already being felt as coffee farmers struggle to grow crops in deteriorating conditions.
Mashed also looked into the pending coffee crisis:
60 percent of wild coffee species, which are used to breed more resilient cultivated plants, are at risk of extinction. Meanwhile, demand for coffee globally is increasing 2 percent a year, according to the BBC.
While oversupply might be the problem today, in the near future farmers may not be able to get everyone that daily cup of Joe they can’t seem to live without.
Another important thing to note here is that the way that we consume coffee could be contributing to climate change.
Coffee pods, thanks to the bad habits formed around disposing of them conveniently, have become a massive part of landfills worldwide, where they take centuries to degrade.
One of the ways to avoid adding to this problem is to switch to beans. In addition, make sure they’re ethically sourced and that your purchase supports small farms and businesses.
Terbodore’s ethically sourced, expertly farmed and roasted coffee beans hit the spot, and the SELECT range, which is produced via a lasting and personal relationship with the growers and harvesters of the roasts, is a real winner.
If like me, you prefer the convenience of a pod, you can do your bit for the environment by switching to Terbodore’s compostable coffee capsules.
Terbodore coffee pods are 100% biodegradable, biobased and guaranteed to degrade in 14 to 16 weeks. They’re also working with 4WKS pods as one of their coffee roasters.
We all have to do our bit to save the planet, and we’re going to need that daily coffee to come up with ways to make that happen.
A little more on the looming crisis:
Climate change has also made rainfall patterns less predictable and created favorable conditions for coffee rust, a fungus that can devastate an entire crop…
If farmers are going to stay in business, they need to adapt.
Vox lists three possible solutions: plant shade trees to keep the coffee plants cool, relocate plants to higher elevations, or replace the crop with a more resilient coffee variety.
None of those solutions come cheap, and decisions will need to be taken soon to ensure that the dire predictions surrounding the global coffee supply in 2050 don’t come true.
For now, as a consumer, buying ethically sourced and environmentally sustainable coffee is a good place to start.
Head here to stock up on your favourite Terbodore coffee, and have them delivered to your door.
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