假如你天天早上都要喝一杯拿铁、卡布奇诺或是浓缩咖啡才能振作精神，那样从目前起，你可能应该注意了。专家说，咖啡一族们天天花在咖啡上的消费非常或许会开始上涨，而且咖啡的口味也大概不比以前。这到底是为何呢？
Do you like drinking coffee? I certainly do. In fact you could say Im an addict1 because I have to drink a cup every morning to kick-start my day and get my brain working! Latte, cappuccino, espresso you name it, Ill drink it. And Im not alone it seems like everyone has a coffee cup glued to their hands as they rush to the office. So how would we survive if there was a coffee drought?
Well, experts are warning that our favourite caffeine shot could really be under threat. Our love for coffee could mean that demand outstrips2 supply. This, of course, could hit us in the pocket but theres even worse news we could face poorer-tasting coffee. This is the view of scientists at Londons Kew Gardens who are blaming global warming for this possible hot beverage3 crisis.
Demand for coffee has certainly increased as people have become more affluent4. Consumption has doubled in the last 35 years. Last year 9.5 billion kilos were consumed. But as we drink more, the areas where coffee is grown is predicted to shrink. The International Coffee Organisation5 says that bean production in South East Asia, for example, will decrease by 70% by 2050. The BBC spoke6 to Dr Tim Schilling, director of the World Coffee Research institute, who says: The supply of high-quality coffee is severely7 threatened by climate change, diseases and pests, land pressure, and labour shortages - and demand for these coffees is rising every year.
This is a sobering thought for those of us who rely on a caffeine fix everyday but more worrying for people who work in the industry. Coffee provides a livelihood8 for about 16% of Ethiopias population. And across the globe, extreme weather events are proving a challenge to coffee growers in places such as Brazil and Vietnam.
There is some hope. Technology is helping9 to protect the future of coffee such as breeding the Arabica bean plants to increase its persity and making it resistant10 to climatic changes. Its also possible to relocate the coffee-growing areas although this sometimes leads to areas being deforested. Dr Aaron Davis, coffee researcher at Kew, says: There is the potential to mitigate11 some of the negatives and actually increase the coffee-growing area by four and a half times compared with maintaining the status quo. But will this come quick enough before our coffee turns bitter and we look for a cheaper alternative?
