Science & technology | Caffeine and the climate

Can scientists save your morning cup of coffee?

A warming planet threatens the world’s favourite drug

A worker separates coffee cherries during harvest at a plantation in Guaxupe, Minas Gerais state, Brazil.
Photograph: Getty Images

CAFFEINE is one of the world’s most popular drugs, and coffee one of its best-loved delivery mechanisms. It is grown in more than 70 countries; more than 2bn cups are drunk each day. It helps support the livelihoods of an estimated 125m people. It indirectly supports many more, including your Californian correspondent (though not his tea-drinking British editor), by supplying them with a jump-start every morning.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “A warming planet threatens the world’s favourite drug”

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