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Written by Seattle Times reporter Melissa Allison, the article's subtitle bemoans the fact that "shifting temperatures and erratic rainfall are taking a toll on the lucrative coffee crop in Costa Rica." That subtitle immediately raised my suspicions. Why say "shifting" temperatures? Why not be specific? Are temperatures shifting up? Or down? The article covers almost all of the front page, along with pictures and a fancy graph, then continues on pages 12 and 13, filling both entire pages.
Most people read only the first few paragraphs Farmers are planting at even higher elevations "thanks to warmer temperatures," says Allison "We noticed about six years ago, the weather changed," said Ricardo Calderón Madrigal, whose family harvests ripe, red coffee cherries at the higher elevation. (Notice that he didn't say that temperatures have risen, he simply said "the weather changed.") Allison goes on to tell how 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." "Coffee cannot tolerate extreme high and low temperatures," Allison continues, as she pounds home the global warming mantra. (Notice that she admits that coffee cannot tolerate low temperatures either.) All of these comments alluding to global warming were on the front page. Now we move on to pages 12 and 13, where the story continues. "Global warming — more accurately called climate change — poses "a direct business threat to our company," says Allison, quoting a Starbucks executive. She then points out that "Costa Rica has 25 percent fewer acres planted in coffee than it did a decade ago," and that "roughly 10,000 farmers have quit coffee, some converting their land to pasture for cattle or dairy businesses." "Weather is only one problem" Finally, on page 12, in the fourth column over, after you get past the sad photos, Allison admits that "weather is only one problem. Costa Rica also has too many old coffee trees, and farmers' costs have risen because of a labor shortage and devalued currency."
The real story - "Colder nights" "On the slopes of Volcano Poás, the biggest threats are colder nights, fiercer winds and rain that falls too hard and at the wrong times," says Allison. "Temperatures at Flores' coffee farms on Poás used to stay above 60 degrees at night, but now are dropping to 52 degrees." Colder nights! So much for global warming. "Then there are the mudslides," says Allison. "Although climate change is expected to bring a net drop in rainfall over the long term, some places — including Costa Rica — have experienced deluges. In recent years, mudslides have wiped out swaths of coffee farms, blocked roadways and demolished at least two processing mills." (No mention of El Niño here - an entirely natural force.) So that's real story. Colder nights, fiercer winds, rain and mudslides, devalued currency, labor shortages, old coffee trees ... all caused by global warming, I guess. Global warming that isn't even happening.
Our planet is now colder than it has been for almost all of the past 10,000
years!
I agree that the climate is changing. Of course it is. That's what happens as we enter an ice age. But it has nothing - nothing! - to do with human activities. It's all part of a natural cycle.
The article goes on and on, but I won't bother you with the rest. |
