The world's best coffee producers are threatened by climate change

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What's your favorite coffee? Cat shit, Blue Mountain. Don't confine your eyes to this, but the best coffee is in Ethiopia.

An international coffee appreciation organization has identified Ethiopian coffee as the highest quality coffee in the world; the US thrillist.com website has invited a number of opinion leaders from the coffee industry to vote for the top 10 top coffee producers. Ethiopia ranks first and is known as "the original taste of coffee".

Ethiopia's geographical environment is very suitable for coffee growth, coffee cultivation is mainly concentrated in the southern highlands between 1100 meters and 2300 meters above sea level.

Of the nine major coffee producing areas in Ethiopia, Hidamo and Yegashafi are the most outstanding. Yega Xuefei originally belongs to the sub-region of Hidamo, which is independent because of its special flavor. Because of its rich and complex fruit aroma, it has become an international hit almost overnight, becoming a hot target for experts and expensive.

But a new study finds that global warming may make half of Ethiopia's coffee-growing areas unusable. Rising temperatures have damaged some special places of origin, such as the loss of some wine regions in France. It seems that the price of delicious coffee will have to go up.

However, there is good news, and the study also shows that large-scale relocation of plantations to higher elevations can actually increase coffee production.

Coffee and tea are the two most popular drinks in the world, with 100 million people growing coffee beans around the world. Climate change is the biggest long-term threat to the coffee industry, not only reducing acreage and quality of coffee beans, but also causing the deadly growth of coffee leaf rust fungi. If the coffee industry does not take action and greenhouse gas emissions are not reduced, coffee is expected to be more expensive and, worst of all, taste worse.

So is this research reliable in the end? It's still very reliable. The researchers visited 30,000 kilometers on the spot, collected and measured various relevant data in detail, and combined with the study of computer models of climate change, found that by the end of this century, 40-60% of Ethiopia's existing coffee-growing areas will no longer be suitable for growing coffee beans because of climate warming.

However, the study, published in the Journal of Natural plants, also shows that relocation plans can be retained or even expanded in the country's coffee-growing areas. Aaron Davis, of the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens in London, who works with Ethiopian scientists, said: "even in the context of climate change, there is a way to recover. But it is a daunting task, and millions of farmers have to change it. "

But we can't be too optimistic. By 2040, this migration to higher elevations will also reach the summit of the Ethiopian mountains. "it's like you've reached the ceiling," Davis said. "there's no higher place to go.

Over the past few decades, global warming has led to a steady rise in temperatures in Ethiopia. The dry season is drier, the rainy season is more waterlogged, and the harvest is getting less and less every year.

Ethiopia may lose its famous coffee producer Harald. "hundreds of hectares of trees have withered and died in this area alone," Davis said. It is a world-famous name that has been growing coffee trees for centuries. Now the climate change, the situation is getting worse and worse.

"unless measures are taken quickly, some producing areas will disappear, just like losing the Burgundy wine region," he said. The coffee produced in these growing areas is unique in taste and unique in the world, and it cannot be produced anywhere other than Ethiopia. "

Sebsebe Demissew, a professor at Addis Ababa University who is also a member of the research team, said: "Coffee comes from the highland forests of Ethiopia, which is our gift to the world. The current problems in the coffee industry in Ethiopia may have a long-term impact on global coffee cultivation. "

I just know where the most delicious coffee in the world is, but we can't let it disappear slowly. Calls on the Ethiopian government and the international community to take urgent measures to protect the precious coffee producing areas so that coffee lovers around the world can continue to enjoy this blessing.