Coffee Is Being Threatened With Extinction Because of Climate Change

Two new scientific papers show how climate change is affecting species of coffee plants in Africa, Australia and Asia. The findings of these research studies have big implications for coffee drinkers, coffee producers and everyone else involved in this massive global industry.

At issues is the survivability of what is known as "wild coffee." These are some 124 species of coffee that grow naturally in forests in coffee growing climates of Africa, Asia and Australia.

Most coffee consumers do not drink coffee from wild species. Rather, we drink two species, Arabica and Robusta, that are not currently threatened with extinction. But the fate of the massive worldwide coffee industries that have formed around Arabica and Robusta are closely linked to that of wild coffee. If wild coffee continues on its trajectory toward extinction, the gene pool from which Robusta and Arabica can draw to adapt in the face of evolutionary threats will dry up. That means coffee itself may become a threatened sp…