Global warming can lead to a crisis for world beer producers. The crops will be reduced and beer prices can be doubled, even tripled, according to a new study.
More frequent waves of extreme heat and drought will affect the growth of crops in the future. The crops can be reduced by as much as 17 percent, according to a study published in the journal Nature Plants.
Barley is a key ingredient in beer brewing. Reduced crops will lead to an increase in average beer prices, even when inflation is taken into account, according to the study. In some countries, like Ireland where beer prices are already high, prices can triple, it’s said.
The co-author of the study, Steve Davis at the University of California at Irvine, says the beer angle was partly done to convey the message that climate change can affect all parts of our daily lives.
The method is applauded by other researchers.
“One of the biggest challenges for a scientist studying climate change is how to show its effects, food and produce in this case, is a way to make people understand it,” says scientist Lewis Ziska in the US Department of Agriculture.
“Few people would complain if global warming led to broken crops of sprouts,” he adds.
“Researchers have long been aware that barley is among the most heat-sensitive cereal types worldwide, but this study relates to something that people care about, beer prices,” says agricultural economist David Lobell at Stanford University.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
