Climate Change May Threaten Your Morning Coffee Ritual

If droughts, floods and wildfires weren’t enough, maybe this will get your attention. Yes, climate change may threaten your morning cup of Joe.

This news from none other than the coffee gurus at Starbucks.

In an interview with The Guardian, Starbuck’s director of sustainability, Jim Hanna, said climate change is threatening the future of the world’s coffee supply.

“What we are really seeing as a company as we look 10, 20, 30 years down the road — if conditions continue as they are — is a potentially significant risk to our supply chain, which is the Arabica coffee bean,” he told the newspaper.

Hanna, who was scheduled to speak at a climate event in Washington, D.C. last week, said coffee growers in Starbucks’ supply chain, mainly in Central America, are already seeing some reductions in crop yields due to more severe pest outbreaks, hurricanes and mudslides and changing rainfall patterns.

You can watch a CBS News clip on this major threat to human productivity here: Better steel yourself with some caffeine first.

Lisa Hayden is a writer and blogger for The Nature Conservancy

Photo by: Flickr user @dino (Cup of coffee ready to enjoy) Used under a Creative Commons license.