Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Current Event 6

Droughts currently occurring in Southern Brazil are affecting the local coffee growing industry there. Coffee production requires well-maintained trees and droughts caused by climate change are affecting many coffee plantations, reducing the total amount produced. While there won't be a huge shortage anytime soon, the yield of plantations will continue to slowly drop, driving up prices. Demand for coffee worldwide is increasing, so that will drive prices further up as well. The article linked also highlights how the current Brazilian drought is also affecting other commodities such as oranges, soy, cattle, and sugar, increasing the prices of all four. Of course, exact proven link, but extreme weather conditions are a result of climate change, so it's not too far of a leap to make that climate change is contributing to the reduction in commodity yield.


Goals update:
I've been doing really well with keeping the heat off and turning off my power strip when it's not in use. Turing off the strip has actually become a habit now, and I sometimes find myself having forgotten to turn it back on when I do need it.
Shower time reduction has also been going well. I use my phone as a timer and am able to keep it to around 6-10 minutes when I don't wash my hair.
I haven't been as strict on my grocery budget, but I am buying mainly organic foods. They just have that price premium that makes it tough to stick to the $30 limit I set for myself each week

No comments:

Post a Comment