Climate change’s affect on unpredictable rainfall and rising temperatures in places in Central America will have an everlasting impact on the coffee ind
In North America, specifically in the United States, New Jersey grows tomatoes, Idaho grows potatoes, Georgia grows peaches and Florida grows oranges.
In South America, just about everywhere grows coffee. According to World Atlas, the world’s largest coffee producing country is Brazil, who produced 5,714,381,000 pounds of coffee in 2016 alone.
On World Atlas’ “Top Coffee Producing Countries” list, Guatemala comes in 10th place. In 2016, Guatemala produced 449,743,000 pounds of coffee.
As much as the different states in the United States harvest different crops, none of them usually harvest coffee.
Although Americans do not typically harvest coffee on their own, most American’s would say that they need it to survive. The coffee industry brings in a huge amount of revenue into the United States.
According to ABC News, in 2012 $14.40 is spent per week on coffee, excluding coffee drank at home, by the typical American worker.
So what is the big deal? Climate change is. Climate change is hindering the coffee business.
One of the main reasons as to why coffee grows so well in Central and South America is because there is more rainfall and less dry seasons and this type of weather is needed to harvest and dry coffee beans. Currently in countries like Peru, Ecuador and Columbia, the amount of rainfall is going to decrease, which may cause more dry periods.
Climate change is posing a threat on many different types of crops in Central and South America, but coffee is a vulnerable crop because it has an unique gene pool that is much more shallow than the rest of the crop’s gene pools.
Sarah McCarron, a sophomore sociology major at Cabrini University, frequents many different places that are known for selling coffee such as Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and WaWa, but goes to Dunkin Donuts the most because it is her favorite. McCarron states that she is definitely worried about the outcome of coffee growth.
“I drink coffee on a day-to-day basis and it would be impossible for me to live without it,” McCarron says. “I get really bad headaches when I don’t drink coffee. During my junior year of high school, I was drinking almost everyday and stopped for a period of time. Once I did this, I realized that my headaches started to get worse. There is no way that I would be able to live without it.”
In Voorhies, N.J., Jacqueline Steinbach is a shift supervisor at a drive through Starbucks on Route 73. Steinbach has also expressed her fear in climate change affecting coffee growth.
“Hypothetically speaking, if climate change wipes out coffee growth for good, I’m out of a job,” Steinbach says. “Although Starbucks also sells teas, refreshers and pastries, coffee is definitely our best seller. Our company would not be able to survive without it.”
Steinbach also talks about how Starbucks sells different roasts from different countries.
“A lot of our coffee comes specifically from Guatemala. If climate change were to prevent the growth of coffee beans over there, I don’t know what we would do,” Steinbach said.
There are Americans like McCarron, who would be lost without coffee for personal and medical reasons, and there are American’s like Steinbach, who would be lost without coffee for financial reasons.
“Without coffee beans, there would be no coffee. Without coffee, there would be no espresso. Without espresso, there would be no Starbucks. Without Starbucks, I wouldn’t have a job,” said Steinbach.
