There isn’t anything that can’t be blamed on global warming.

Coffee shortage may arise due to drought, climate change, rising demand, analysts say — WaPo

Don’t panic. But there could be a global coffee shortage.

Usually, during this time of year, the delicate Arabica coffee plants in the mountains of Brazil, where most of the world’s coffee comes from, are maturing. White, fragrant flowers have appeared, followed by cherrylike fruit, each containing two seeds: Arabica coffee beans, the most popular in the world.

But last month, the worst drought in decades hit Brazil’s coffee belt region, destroying crop yields and causing the price of coffee to shoot up by more than 50 percent so far this year. The drought is historic, with more than 140 cities in Brazil forced to ration water. The country’s leading newspapers reported that some neighborhoods are receiving water only every three days. […]

On top of that, there are concerns that climate change could damage supplies, as well, with some pointing to Brazil’s drought as evidence of the more extreme weather becoming the norm.

“What we are really seeing as a company as we look 10, 20, 30 years down the road – if conditions continue as they are – is a potentially significant risk to our supply chain, which is the Arabica coffee bean,” said Jim Hanna, Starbucks’ head of sustainability, in an interview with the Guardian in 2011.