Sunday, February 9, 2014

All the good stuff might be affected by global warming


First we heard about chocolate being adversely affected by global warming.

Then we heard about wine getting in trouble as the climate gets warmer.

After that, it was coffee.    Then beer was tabbed.

And BACON (perish the thought)!  And honey, though I don't think that the threat from global warming is on the immediate list of problems for honey production.  (Having enough bees, however, is.)

So what else?  Ponder for a moment or two
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Now it's tea.

Climate change comes for your cup of tea

"According to data collected by the Tea Research Association, temperatures in Assam and Darjeeling have gone up by 2 degrees Celsius and rainfall has become erratic. While the total amount of rain in the region has not changed dramatically, the intensity of droughts and severe downpours has increased. The prolonged droughts are killing tea bushes and the intense rain events are causing erosion in tea plantations, terraced into hillsides. ...
In Sri Lanka, another major tea-producing region, new pest invasions are one of the largest sources of loss on the plantations. Pests like the shot-hole borer and live-wood termite are moving up to altitudes where they have never been seen before. The insects stress the plant and the financial resources of tea growers attempting to control them. Average temperatures in Sri Lanka have already risen nearly 1 degree Celsius during the last century and are expected to keep rising."
I mean, at what point if all these precious commodities become scarcer and more expensive does the general world population realize that this problem is SERIOUS?  (Take away the morning coffee, or the morning tea, and the honey you put in the tea, and the bacon that comes with breakfast... this could cause not just consternation, but revolt.  Car wrecks.  Murderous intentions. The eventual collapse of human civilization.)  I mean, they might call me an alarmist, but how bleak is our future if the morning cuppa is on the endangered list?

We can't let it come to that, can we?


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