Studies have previously estimated that the amount of land worldwide suitable for growing coffee could shrink by an estimated 50 percent by 2050 as global temperatures rise, rain patterns change, and ecosystems shift due to climate change. But a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences predicts a far worse situation for Latin America, the world’s largest coffee supplier: The region could lose nearly 90 percent of its coffee-growing land by mid-century.
Studies have previously estimated that the amount of land worldwide suitable for growing coffee could shrink by an estimated 50 percent by 2050 as global temperatures rise, rain patterns change, and ecosystems shift due to climate change. But a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences predicts a far worse situation for Latin America, the world’s largest coffee supplier: The region could lose nearly 90 percent of its coffee-growing land by mid-century.
The study found that coffee-suitable areas in Latin America will decline an estimated 73 to 88 percent by 2050 under various warming scenarios, with the lowlands of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Venezuela being particularly devastated.
Read more at Yale Environment 360
Image: Bees are vital pollinators for coffee crops worldwide. Credit: BOB PETERSON/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
.jpg){kind=link}