I’VE STARTED MY LAMENT THAT CLIMATE CHANGE WILL KILL BEER TOO
Deny the reality of climate change all you want. But it doesn’t care. It’s coming. Shoot, it’s already here! Every single storm, flood, and drought, is a testament to that fact. Why? Because they’re getting worse. But by worse I mean worse than ever before. But climate change doesn’t just do what it did to Florida. And yes, that’s horrible. Climate change is also going to change what we eat and drink, essentially forever and ever. And the latest expected victim of climate change? Beer. Nooooooo! So add that to your radar of the soon to be out of reach. Chocolate, wine tabasco sauce, even agave (think Tequila, fool!) are already on the list of almost disappearing. Lament. Climate change will kill beer, too.
Read More: Do You Know Which Awesome Beer is Woman Brewed?
BEER PRICES COULD BE SIX TIMES HIGHER IN SOME PLACES
So what’s happening is that climate change is going to have a huge impact on crop size. And in the case of beer, that means barley. A recent study predicts that barley crop size will drop anywhere between 3-17% by 2099. So that means that the cost of beer would then rise 52-600%, depending on where you live. So say today you grab a beer in a bar for 6 bucks. That could cost as much as $64 after this hits. The study appeared in Nature Plants Monday. It’s depressing. But that’s so far away, you say? Sure. Except the researchers only used information from 1981-2010. They examined extreme global heatwaves and droughts. That’s it. Their depressing news doesn’t even have data from the last 8 years!
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STUDY IS ACTUALLY LIMITED, CHANGE WILL HAPPEN EVEN FASTER
But that’s not all. The study doesn’t even look at the most recent findings that show that we have ten years for every major city in the world to give up gas cars or the shit will really hit the fan. So do you still think this is far away? Nah, me neither. And then there’s the water. It takes a lot of water to make beer. A LOT OF WATER. That water, like everything else, will get more expensive too. So get ready to enjoy your favorite foods and, whimper, beverages like beer. It’s all going to start changing inside of 20 years. Our grandkids may not be able to afford beer. Let’s just hope they have access to clean water! But for now, just lament that climate change will kill beer as we know it.
