WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.149 --> 00:00:03.500 Ever since the coffee bean was discovered in the highlands of Ethiopia 00:00:03.500 --> 00:00:09.240 over a thousand years ago, the act of drinking coffee shared with friends, 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:15.990 family, and neighbors remains an integral part of Ethiopian culture. Today the 00:00:15.990 --> 00:00:21.510 caffeinated crop also plays a crucial economic role. But climate change puts it 00:00:21.510 --> 00:00:27.330 all at risk. And Ethiopia is not alone. Nearly all coffee is grown in the "bean 00:00:27.330 --> 00:00:33.269 belt," with Brazil as the leading global coffee exporter. After oil, coffee ranks 00:00:33.269 --> 00:00:37.199 as the world's most valuable export commodity and it's produced almost 00:00:37.199 --> 00:00:43.980 exclusively in developing countries. 120 million people in 70 countries count on 00:00:43.980 --> 00:00:49.350 the global coffee industry, worth tens of billions of dollars, to make a living. Yet 00:00:49.350 --> 00:00:54.239 like wine grapes, coffee plants can be sensitive and demands specific growing 00:00:54.239 --> 00:00:57.480 conditions to produce flavorful and balanced beans. 00:00:57.480 --> 00:01:03.179 That's why climate change poses such an existential threat. Warmer temperatures, 00:01:03.179 --> 00:01:08.490 more frequent droughts, intensified flooding, and increasingly hospitable 00:01:08.490 --> 00:01:13.140 conditions for insects and fungi that attack coffee plants all take a heavy 00:01:13.140 --> 00:01:19.320 toll on production. Tanzania, where 2.4 million people earn a living from coffee, 00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:23.130 has seen production cut in half since the 1960s 00:01:23.130 --> 00:01:28.650 due to hotter temperatures. And globally half of all land currently used for 00:01:28.650 --> 00:01:34.620 coffee production is projected to be unsuitable by 2050. Coffee lovers will 00:01:34.620 --> 00:01:38.460 likely feel the effects of supply shortages through higher prices and 00:01:38.460 --> 00:01:43.710 lower bean quality. A rise in temperature means less time for a coffee bean to 00:01:43.710 --> 00:01:49.710 ripen and less complexity in flavor acidity and sweetness. Strategies to 00:01:49.710 --> 00:01:54.210 counteract the worst effects of climate change include moving coffee plantations 00:01:54.210 --> 00:01:59.700 to higher ground and diversifying crops. But most coffee farmers are small-scale 00:01:59.700 --> 00:02:05.200 producers without the resources to take on these measures by themselves. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:09.580 The private sector, from Peet's to Nespresso, has stepped in with funding 00:02:09.580 --> 00:02:14.349 and research support for farmers. And after coffee producers in Mexico lost 00:02:14.349 --> 00:02:20.920 60% of their crops to leaf rust in 2014, coffee behemoth Starbucks distributed 00:02:20.920 --> 00:02:25.750 millions of coffee plants bred to be rust resistant to the region. But to 00:02:25.750 --> 00:02:30.489 stave off a crisis, governments and institutions need to make a sustained, 00:02:30.489 --> 00:02:36.610 widespread effort to help farmers adapt to climate change. For 120 million people, 00:02:36.610 --> 00:02:42.430 it's not just about a daily jolt of caffeine or after-dinner nightcap - its 00:02:42.430 --> 00:02:45.690 economic survival.