Climate change takes toll on coffee growers, drinkers too..

 The Seattle Times


SANTA MARIA DE DOTA, Costa Rica — A mile above this rural mountain town, coffee trees have produced some of the world's best arabica beans for more than a century. Now farmers are planting even higher — at nearly 7,000 feet — thanks to warmer temperatures.
"We noticed about six years ago, the weather changed," said Ricardo Calderón Madrigal, whose family harvests ripe, red coffee cherries at the higher elevation. He sells beans to some of the most notable coffeehouses in the U.S., including Stumptown Coffee of Portland and Ritual Coffee in San Francisco. Standing among healthy coffee trees near the upper reaches of his farm, Calderón says he knows he is lucky.

Calderon is one of the few Costa Rican coffee farmers benefiting from the shifting weather pattern, while most of his fellow growers have found themselves on the losing end. Yields in Costa Rica have dropped dramatically in the last decade, with farmers and scientists blaming climate change for a significant portion of the troubles.