According to the scary research published in journal Nature Plants, temperatures aren’t the only things rising as a result of our destructive ways; the price of beer is set to increase by 200 per cent.
“At the end of the day, we’re really dependent upon favorable weather conditions, and farmers have (sic) located in places where conditions tend to be favorable,” said co-author of the study Nathaniel Mueller when talking to Mashable. “As the climate changes around them, they’ll be increasingly exposed to these extreme events.”
Meuller and his colleagues suggest that the increase in temperatures and resulting damage to farmland will increasingly affect the world’s barley supply, a fairly crucial ingredient in beer.
"Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage in the world by volume consumed, and yields of its main ingredient, barley, decline sharply in periods of extreme drought and heat," says the abstract from the article despite the questionable opening statement (water definitely sneaks in ahead of beer as the most popular beverage...).
There are only a small handful of ways to prevent the price-hike expected on your favourite bevvy. The first, and most obvious, is to step up and look after the environment. Walk to work and reduce your meat intake for starters.
Our only other beer-saving hopes are for farmers to innovate and discover new ways to grow barley, or begin the use of other ingredients in beer. This has already trialled by some brands such as Budweiser, who use rice as a barley substitute, however these brews haven’t been met with universal praise.
