Beer lovers be warned: Global warming could put pounds on your pint!
Here's one that should make a few people sit up and take notice: the price of beer, it has been reported, is likely to rise sharply in coming decades, because global warming is making it impossible to grow a key grain used to brew beer; particularly in Australia, which has already seen severe droughts.
The threat is so severe, it has been claimed, that pubs down under may have to go without any beer at all by some forecasters; posing a real problem in a country whose beer consumption is the highest per capita in the world.
Jim Salinger, a climate scientist at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, said climate change likely will cause a decline in the production of malting barley in parts of New Zealand and Australia. Malting barley is a key ingredient of beer.
"It will mean either there will be pubs without beer or the cost of beer will go up," he told the Institute of Brewing and Distilling convention.
Similar effects could be expected worldwide, but Salinger spoke only of the effects on Australia and New Zealand. He said climate change could cause a drop in beer production within 30 years, especially in parts of Australia, as dry areas become drier and water shortages worsen.
Wine lovers be warned too - the draught is likely to affect the production of Austrialians wines as well.
Posted by: Nigels Eco Store | April 9, 2008 3:02 PM