Now We Have A Problem: Global Warming Is Impacting Beer Production

We are beginning to see the effects of the wholesale abuse of our planet first-hand. We all know the polar ice caps are melting, that huge landmasses are turning into dust bowls and various species of animals are popping out of existence, but the general response to this slow-moving train wreck of an ecological disaster is all too often: "So? What can we do about it? Besides, it's not hurting me."

Us humans have a very short attention span. This year it might be global warming, next year it might be some other disaster we have to worry about; this is the cycle of politics, media and hysteria that never really addresses the issue. But the inconvenient thing about climate change is that it is happening now, each and every one of us is to blame for it, and unless something is done now (or yesterday), this annoying global warming thing is eventually going to make the hellish surface of Venus look like a water park.

And guess what? To enact any kind of change, there needs to be tight controls on man made carbon production, there needs to be grass roots efforts to alter individual's consumption of raw materials and science must find ways to help nature to mend the impact we've already had on the world. Climate change could very well be mankind's next World War; rather than killing an enemy with bombs and bullets, we'll see huge numbers of people indiscriminately dying through rapid changes in weather cycles and unexpected climate-related disasters. In short, global warming will begin to effect each and every one of us as time goes on, and the effects may seem small at first, but they are going to get bigger and more deadly unless we find ways to curb the quantity of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.

So, how does the average rise in global temperatures impact me? For those of you who know me, I'm an avid fan of fine wines (of the $5-$10 price bracket) and good beers. I'd be very upset if anything disrupted the supply of either to the market shelves. Unfortunately, it looks like global warming is directly impacting one of the world's most famous beers, and there's not a lot we can do about it.

In a paper recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, a team led by climatologist Martin Mozny of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute has found that the quality of Saaz hops -- a delicate variety of hop used to make pilsner lager -- has been decreasing in recent years. Why? It would appear the continuing rise of air temperature in the Czech Republic (where the crops are located) is the culprit.

The team used high-resolution weather pattern, crop yield and hop quality data to gauge the impact of climate change on the Saaz crops between 1954 to 2006. Mozny's team found that the acidity of the hops had dropped 0.06% every year in this time period. Ideally, to get that characteristic delicate bitter pilsner taste, the hops must contain around 5% alpha acid. Unfortunately, this quantity is dropping and showing little sign of stabilizing. In fact, the team predict that it is only going to get worse.

But this isn't an isolated case, the hop growing regions of eastern Germany and central Slovakia have noticed similar changes in their crops.

So what? This doesn't mean the world is going to run out of beer any time soon does it. But wait, this is just the thin edge of the wedge. Currently we are seeing changes in entire crops that we use to produce consumables. It is naive to think these changes are limited to a small number of beer-making crops. This situation will become more and more common, not just for speciality beers, but for staple foods.

Climate change is creeping into our daily lives, what will it take to make us realize that global warming isn't going away and that we are causing it? This realization may already be too late for us to do much about it. The phrase "act now!" isn't an overused environmentalist slogan, it's a necessity.
Link: http://blogs.discovery.com/space_disco/2009/09/now-we-have-a-problem-global-warming-is-impacting-beer-production.html