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March 09, 2011

'Peak Coffee'? Yikes - if true

The whole coffee-growing world may not be facing the problems of Columbia and elsewhere in Latin America, where it seems the heat of global warming and shifting rainfall of climate change are hitting coffee yields, but that's enough coffee-growing area to perhaps talk about "Peak Coffee."

Or is it?

A panel of commentators weighs in at the NYT.

It seems coffee's sensitivity as a plant is half the problem. Per the main story:
“Half a degree can make a big difference for coffee — it is adapted to a very specific zone,” said Néstor Riaño, a specialist in agroclimatology for Cenicafé. “If temperature rises even a bit, the growth is affected, and the plagues and diseases rise.”
So, even without global warming, shorter-term weather changes will produce problems.

But, it seems boom-bust issues are also a problem.

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