Climate change will affect beer prices
Rising temperatures and longer dry spells caused by global warming will threaten barley crops, scientists warn. This in turn will affect the availability and price of the world’s most popular alcoholic beverage – beer. These changes will also be felt in Poland.
According to new research, climate change may cause shortages in the global beer supply. Increasingly frequent droughts and high temperatures will result in significantly lower yields in barley worldwide, affecting beer production, shortages and price increases.
The findings were published in the „Nature Plants”.
Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world. Among Among non-alcoholic beverages, only water and tea are ahead of them. Sadly, the d – head The main ingredient of beer is very sensitive to extreme weather events, which are expected to increase in the coming years.
Almost all climate change scenarios predict an increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts and extreme temperatures in the coming years, but the effects of these changes on beer supply have never been assessed. This was undertaken by scientists from China, Mexico, Great Britain and the USA. They assessed the effects of simultaneous drought and extreme temperatures projected under a range of future climate scenarios. They identified extreme climatic events and modelled their impact on barley yields in 34 regions of the world. The conclusions of this analysis are not impressive.
In recent years, the beer industry has absorbed about 17 percent. global barley production, but the share of domestic barley production in beer production is significantly r It will require changes in the entire food chain, from storage, transport, packaging and labelling to changes in regulations. For example, in Brazil it is 83 percent., and in Australia only 9 percent. Barley is also used to produce other types of food, primarily animal feed.
According to researchers’ calculations, average yield losses barley yields will rise by 3 to 17 percent by the end of the century., depending on the intensity of heatwaves and droughts. In a worst-case scenario, global beer consumption would decline by 16 percent., i.e. by 29 billion per liter – This is almost the total annual beer consumption in the USA. In the best case scenario beer consumption will fall by 4 per cent. Barley shortages will also affect the price of liquor. Researchers estimate that this could even double.
The researchers point out that total beer consumption declines most in countries that The most consumed in recent years.
– A growing number of studies point to the impact of climate change on global food production, focusing on staple crops such as wheat, corn, soybeans and rice. But climate change could make it more difficult to access the commodity in luxury – said Dabo Guan of the University of East Anglia, co authors of the research.
– Although the zwr attention has been drawn to the potential impact of climate change on wine or coffee production, the impact on beer has not been thoroughly assessed, and a sufficient supply of beer may help c in ensuring the stability of entertainment and communication in society. While the impact on beer may seem modest in por and many others – some he life-threatening effects of climate change, but there is something fundamental about the cross-cultural assessment of beer. It can be argued that consuming less beer is not disastrous and may even have health benefits. However, there is no doubt that for a million in people around the world the impact of climate on beer availability and price will be extremely unpleasant – explained Guan.
Scientists in a study analyzed barley shortages on beer supply and price. The results show that prices will rise most in countries where most beer is consumed – that is, also in Poland. According to estimates According to researchers, in a worst-case climate scenario, the price of beer in our country would increase by as much as five times!
