Global warming is directly impacting one of the world's most famous beers.
Us humans have a very short attention span. This year it might be global warming, next year it might be some other disaster we have to worry about; this is the cycle of politics, media and hysteria that never really addresses the issue. But the inconvenient thing about climate change is that it is happening now, each and every one of us is to blame for it, and unless something is done now (or yesterday), this annoying global warming thing is eventually going to make the hellish surface of Venus look like a water park.
And guess what? To enact any kind of change, there needs to be tight controls on man made carbon production, there needs to be grass roots efforts to alter individual's consumption of raw materials and science must find ways to help nature to mend the impact we've already had on the world. Climate change could very well be mankind's next World War; rather than killing an enemy with bombs and bullets, we'll see huge numbers of people indiscriminately dying through rapid changes in weather cycles and unexpected climate-related disasters. In short, global warming will begin to effect each and every one of us as time goes on, and the effects may seem small at first, but they are going to get bigger and more deadly unless we find ways to curb the quantity of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.
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So, how does the average rise in global temperatures impact me? For those of you who know me, I'm an avid fan of fine wines (of the $5-$10 price bracket) and good beers. I'd be very upset if anything disrupted the supply of either to the market shelves. Unfortunately, it looks like global warming is directly impacting one of the world's most famous beers, and there's not a lot we can do about it.
In a paper recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, a team led by climatologist Martin Mozny of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute has found that the quality of Saaz hops -- a delicate variety of hop used to make pilsner lager -- has been decreasing in recent years. Why? It would appear the continuing rise of air temperature in the Czech Republic (where the crops are located) is the culprit.
