Coffee beans at risk of extinction

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:24:00 +0000

Seventy percent of the world's coffee could be wiped out by 2080, according to research from the U.K. and Ethiopia. The forecasts, published in the journal Plos One and flagged by CBC, predict how climate change might make land unsuitable for Arabica plants (which make most coffee).

Via CBC:

Researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew and the Environment and Coffee Forest Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia looked at how climate change might make some land unsuitable for Arabica plants, which are highly vulnerable to temperature change and other dangers including pests and disease.

They came up with a best-case scenario that predicts a 38 per cent reduction in land capable of yielding Arabica by 2080. The worst-case scenario puts the loss at between 90 per cent and 100 per cent.

There is a “high risk of extinction” says the study.

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Coffee beans at risk of extinction