How Might a Changing Global Climate Regime Affect Beer Production? (credit: Climate Central)

DISCUSSION: Of the many things which could potentially be impacted by an amplification of current average planetary temperature regime changes, one such product is actually beer.  Though it may not be immediately apparent to a given individual, beer contains many products which are and will continue to be at risk due to various consequences of a globally changing climate system. Perhaps the most profound issue would be problems pertaining to the availability of clean water.  Due to the fact that the Earth's global population is continuing to still gradually increase with time, this creates a proportional and corresponding increase for fresh water resources both for bathing, cooking, drinking, etc.  Therefore, as seasonal rainfall and snow-melt percentages decrease and increase unpredictably across various parts of the world, this causes a net strain on the overall readily available amount of fresh water in any part of the world at a given point in time.  Thus, it is critical to always be good stewards of our planet and its various natural systems, so we can maximize the duration of time over which we can utilize its naturally-provided resources such as (but certainly not limited to) water.

The other two major components of beer which will also be in jeopardy moving forward (especially if the global net population does not further alter its usage of fossil fuel resources) are barley and hops.  Based on the fact that continued net planetary warming will induce differential rates of regional heating and cooling in various parts of the world, both barley and hops (which are essential to the manufacturing of nearly all beer products) will most certainly be very much at risk.  Especially in parts of the United States and Europe where there has been a greater frequency and magnitude of regional and/or continent-wide drought events, this puts an even greater strain on the farming and harvesting of those respective plants.  Hence, it will be that much more challenging to keep up the global demand for overall global beer production moving forward in time (and especially if we do not collectively make a substantial effort to curb our added influence to further alter/modify the natural long-term evolution of the global climate system associated with Earth.  Moreover, this potential beer-stricken scenario would also substantially increase the average price of beer.  So, bear that in mind the next time you are shopping for a car or planning your next overseas trip since it may just help save our planet one mile and one person at a time.

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© 2018 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz