The list of foods threatened by global warming is long.
Climate change is threatening our tea consumption. A recent report shows that extreme weather conditions are likely to alter the taste of the world’s most widely consumed beverage. By 2050, a quarter of the tea plants in India and Kenya could have disappeared.
Wine, rice, chocolate, coffee, etc. The list of foods threatened by global warming is long. And now we can add tea to it. Floods, heat waves, hurricanes… these meteorological events are becoming increasingly frequent due to climate change and threatening tea growing areas in the world.
This is particularly the case in Kenya, the world’s largest exporter of black tea. In this African country, the number of tea plants could decrease considerably in the coming decades, and even dwindle by a quarter by 2050, according to a new report by British charity Christian Aid. But the effects of the climate crisis could be felt long in another way before a possible tea shortage. Like some wines, the taste of tea could be altered and have less flavour than the tea we’re used to drinking. Indeed, flooding and increased rainfall could alter the subtle flavours of the tea leaf and potentially reduce its health benefits, the report says…
