The climate is changing, whether due to changing solar cycles, the Earth’s exit from the Interglacial, human activity, or all of the above, and it’s pointless to deny it. Most people do not care about these changes because there are only abstract statements by scientists in the style of “maybe the ocean level will rise” and “maybe the greenhouse effect will lead to permanent heat,” and all this in the unforeseen future, in at least a century.
Another thing is the changes that may occur soon and affect the usual way of life, for example, destroying food. According to scientists, the products listed below may disappear in our lifetime.
Avocado
Let’s start with a product that many fans of proper nutrition have fallen in love with – avocado. Its fruits have a mild flavor and can be added to many dishes for healthier benefits. The problem is that growing 1 kilogram of avocado requires more than 600 liters of water, leading to a higher price than other fruits.
In addition, due to the growing drier climate, the cost of growing avocados is constantly increasing, and soon it may become so expensive that no one will take it. And this, in turn, will reduce production volumes to a minimum. And in general, spending more than half a cubic meter on growing fruits is a dubious pleasure.
Bananas
Bananas are another candidate for disappearing from the shelves, not because of a decrease in the profitability of production but because of the attack of parasites. In the last century, the so-called “Panama disease” was caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense practically destroyed the popular Gros Michel banana variety, and today it is attacking Cavendish, the most common variety of this fruit in stores.
Scientists fear that if the disease begins to affect the plantations of South America, most plants may soon die. If nothing is done about it, bananas will disappear from store shelves.
All cocoa products
And this is not only chocolate but also pastries, powders, and other products that make our lives sweeter. As with bananas, cocoa is susceptible to pests and fungal diseases. For example, in the 1990s, a fungus destroyed 80% of all trees in Brazil, which led to an increase in the cost of production.
The problem is that cocoa trees are sensitive to environmental changes. Increasing temperature, humidity, and sunlight intensity affect its growth, making it more difficult to grow. Scientists have concluded that if temperatures rise by 2.3 degrees by 2050, the amount of land suitable for growing cocoa could be reduced by more than 50%.
Soya beans
Scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research have developed a computer simulation to see how different crops respond to climate change. If the global temperature rise does not slow down, soybean yields could fall by 40% by 2100. We agree that few who read this article will live to see this time, but there is still a chance. And, having lived to the beginning of the 22nd century, you will see that the world has practically lost soybeans – the most important component of the food industry.
Blueberry
Blueberries are full of natural antioxidants and have many health benefits, such as maintaining good eyesight and strengthening the cardiovascular system. However, blueberries may soon disappear or at least become available only to the rich, and all because of climate change. More precisely, the extinction of bees due to rising temperatures and air poisoning with chemicals is to blame.
Since blueberries, like many other fruit-bearing shrubs and trees, depend on pollination by bees and other insects to bloom, a decline in the population of these striped creatures will lead to a drop in yields or even the complete disappearance of blueberries and other fruits from store shelves.
Coffee
If you love coffee, you can start stocking up now. However, you can’t stock up for a lifetime. Coffee prices have risen, and the trend is likely to continue. This was influenced by modern geopolitical events and the effect of a drop in productivity due to climate change. Coffee does not withstand the temperature and dryness or, conversely, the volley of downpours that are increasingly happening worldwide. Scientists predict that by 2050 the area for coffee production could be halved.
In addition, coffee plantations are increasingly faced with the fungus Hemileia vastatrix, which destroys crops. Coupled with climate change, according to scientists, if nothing changes, by 2080, coffee could completely disappear.
Honey
The problem is the same as in the case of blueberries – a declining population of honey bees. Even though scientists recognize climate change as one of the culprits for the mass death of bees, it remains a mystery to them why this happens.
World honey production is declining due to bees’ disappearance; in the foreseeable future, these insects may become so few that the sweet treat can be forgotten.
Grapes and products from it
If you love wine and grape juice or eat delicious sweet fruits, then it’s best to enjoy these foods now while you still can. Studies by scientists show that important wine regions are becoming too hot to grow grapes, at least wine varieties. The researchers say this could lead to more than an 80% drop in the production of grapes and grape products over the next 50 years.
Strawberry
Unstable climatic conditions are also to blame here, which lead to a reduction in the duration of the harvest cycle. The fact is that hotter weather delays flowering, which leads to a delay in the ripening process. When heat and drought, which hinder development, are replaced by sharp bursts of rain and cold snap, this destroys a large part of the plants, which leads to the loss of a significant percentage of the crop. Already in this century, we may lose strawberries, at least in the form we know them.
Cherry and sweet cherry
Those who live in the south of our country notice that fewer and fewer trees bear fruit every year, and many die without waking up after the winter. The same climate change is to blame, but not the summer heat; the warmth is shifting towards early spring.
Many farmers note that in the regions where these trees are grown, it is increasingly warm in early March or even February, which stimulates the trees to wake up prematurely. However, these heat waves are replaced by frosts, which destroy the flowers that have begun to bloom. If this continues further, the yield of cherries and sweet cherries will drop so much that these fruits will become inaccessible to ordinary people.
Tea
If you thought that even when coffee disappears, you will still have tea, then you are mistaken. Tea bushes are very sensitive to climate change and pesticides. Unlike most plant species, this can only grow in certain agroecological conditions – in tropical and subtropical montane forests. The problem is that the acreage under tea bushes is constantly decreasing, which leads to an increase in the cost of cultivation. For the foreseeable future, already in this century, tea production may drop significantly.
Lemons, oranges, and other citrus fruits
Do you like to eat a cool orange in the summer or a few tangerines at the New Year’s table? Eat up now because citrus fruits will become scarce even if they don’t disappear completely. And the point here is not only climate change and environmental degradation and the so-called yellow dragon disease caused by the Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus.
Once infected, the fruits of the trees become bitter, non-aromatic, and inedible. In addition, they do not reach ripeness and remain green. The tree itself is difficult to save, and it soon dies. This disease has been found in most citrus-growing areas, and if this continues, we will have to settle for artificial flavors of lemons, oranges, and tangerines.
