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ENVIRONMENT | Climate Change

Beer lovers beware: Climate change is coming for your wallet


Kim MacDonald
Reporter

Tuesday, October 16, 2018, 2:06 PM - When the weather gets hot, a cold beer seems to be the ideal thirst quencher -- but a hot planet means the price of that brew could skyrocket, according to researchers.

Extreme heat waves and droughts impact the growth of barley, a key ingredient in beer. An international group of researchers estimate that future production losses could be as much as 17 per cent.

That means that the price of beer could double, according to a recent study in the journal Nature Plants.

RELATED: Germany runs out of beer bottles during unprecedented heat wave

Barley is one of the most heat-sensitive plants on Earth and scientists say if the planet continues to warm with emissions from coal, oil and gas, weather will impact barley production every other year by the end of the century.

In a best-case scenario, the study's model predicted a 15 per cent increase in the price of beer.

Barley is mostly used for feeding livestock worldwide but in the United States, China and Brazil at least two-thirds of the barley goes into bottles and kegs.

Study co-author Steve Davis of the University of California, Irvine said the beer research was partly done to drive home the message that climate change is messing with all sorts of aspects of our daily lives.

VIDEO: BEER-LOVING BOVINES



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