Climate change has become more and more of an issue and increasingly prevalent in our lives.  One part that climate change has a drastic impact on is agriculture in various regions of the world, in this case Latin America.  NPR’s article touches on how the coffee beans and the area they grow have been affected.  Aside from the area the beans can grow, the bees that pollenate the plants are also being affected by changes in the climate.  “Researchers [project] that by 2050, climate change could reduce the amount of ground usable to grow coffee in Latin America by up to 88 percent”.

The loss that could occur is much more than the price increase to coffee, but instead it affects the livelihood of the millions of people who work to grow these beans.  While “the researchers project that about 34-51 percent of areas will become less suitable to growing coffee but see more bee diversity, somewhat offsetting farmers’ losses”, some farmers believe that the gain will not be worth the loss.

In regards to how this article portrays Latin America, the beginning of the article does not really distinguish the different parts of Latin America until later on the in the article.  To me, this was another example of Latin American countries being grouped together despite sharing distinct differences aside from just names.  On the other hand, while the article primarily focuses on the findings of a researcher, the author makes sure to add the opinions of farmers who would be affected by these changes.  Overall, I think NPR does a decent job explaining the situation without silencing the voices of Latin Americans.

What drew me to this article was how it related with our recent discussions on how important the environment is to the livelihood of people in Latin America, and how climate change can have a drastic effect on people. The first example that came to mind was the video slideshow we had watched on the Kamayura.  What stuck out the most about their situation was the impact that climate change was having on their life. The most striking aspect was how it affected their diet, as rivers that contained the fish they commonly ate were drying up.  In the case of NPR’s article, the climate change affects the livelihood of people who grow these beans, drawing a direct comparison of how the environment still plays a central role in agriculture today.

Kennedy, Merrit.  “Coffee, Bees and Climate Change Are Linked In Ways You May Not Have Expected.” NPR.  September 11, 2017.  http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/11/550169720/coffee-bees-and-climate-change-are-linked-in-ways-you-may-not-have-expected