Coffee is probably the world’s least expensive success power tool. Coffee builds better teams and increases your leadership ability. Coffee also increases your immunity. It increases focus and drive and may even increase your lifespan.
Unfortunately, we may not be enjoying the benefits or pleasures of coffee too much longer. According to ecologists, there’s a good chance that in 20 or 30 years, the varieties of coffee that we drink today will be extinct. And we’ll be drinking either a coffee substitute or some almost-coffee hybrid that vaguely resembles the drink we enjoy today.
The problem, of course, is the pace of climate change. Successful coffee cultivation has three preconditions: 1) a warm, highly stable tropical climate with altitudes that keep air temperature between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius, 2) rich soil full of natural nutrients, and 3) an ecological environment that’s pest and disease resistant.
Coffee is a crop that is only grown in a thin band called the “coffee belt” close to the equator. It simply won’t grow anywhere else. Unfortunately, the “coffee belt” is extremely vulnerable to climate change. If the air is too cold or too hot, it prevents the growth of the coffee plant.
Climate change also creates environmental stress, which spreads parasites, pests and plant diseases. All of these increase the fragility of the coffee crop and create the possibility of a species-destroying rot.
Almost all the coffee cultivated in the world today is one of two species, arabica or robusta, either of which might be wiped out in this way. There are other species of coffee, and scientists are hoping that, if worse comes to worst, a different species can be bred into coffee.
Unfortunately, almost all of these species exist only in Ethiopia, a country that climate change is already hammering. As the environmental nonprofit USAID points out:
“Ethiopia is one of the world’s most drought-prone countries. The country is confronted with numerous development challenges that exacerbate its weakness facing climate change including increases in temperature, unstable rainfall and unpredictability of seasonal rain, and increased incidences of drought and other extreme events.”
In other words, even as climate change threatens coffee as it exists today, climate change is also eating away at the root source to which we might turn to for replacement species.
What to do? Well, take the time to savor each cup of coffee you drink. Beyond that, stop electing and enabling climate change deniers.
12. What is the author’s feeling about the future of coffee?
A.Helpless. | B.Bored. | C.Happy. | D.Worried. |
13. Which condition probably prevents the growth of the coffee plant?
A.A tropical climate. | B.Rich soil. |
C.Increasing temperature. | D.Stable rainfall. |
14. The underlined word in Paragraph 8 is closest in meaning to “________”.
A.remove | B.worsen | C.decrease | D.accept |
15. What might be the best title for the passage?
A.Change Climate for Coffee |
B.Enjoy Coffee While You Can |
C.Benefits from Coffee Drinking |
D.Conditions for Coffee Planting |