Peanut butter lovers brace yourselves because your favourite snack might be gone very soon. Due to global warming, peanuts have joined the list of foods that might be extinct by 2030. This may seem like a long way away but I’d like to remind you that we’ve recently crossed over into 2016 meaning that 2030 is less than 15 year into the future.
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This Huffington Post article claims that while there might not be a shortage right now, peanuts require very specific and stable growing conditions that just aren’t being kept up due to climate change. Too little rain or too much heat isn’t good for the growth of peanuts and too much rain can cause mould. The article stresses the effects this climate change will have on Canada because most of our peanuts come from the United States.
Photo by Katherine Carroll
The Southern states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and New Mexico are just a few of the places that produce a lot of peanuts, and they’re also the places that are suffering dry, hot summers according to The Weather Channel. This isn’t completely new information. In 2011 there was a peanut drought that caused companies to hike up their peanut butter prices by as much as 40%.
Photo by Maggie Gorman
According to the American Peanut Council, “peanuts are the #1 snack nut consumed in the U.S,” and according to the Peanut Bureau of Canada, 95% of Canadians eat peanuts and “the average Canadian eats nearly 3 kg of peanuts per year.” Because of the peanut’s popularity, it obviously contributes greatly to the North American economy. Clearly it would be a tragedy if peanuts were to become extinct.
Scientists aren’t giving up just yet. This government report states that there are teams searching for the best variety of peanut to withstand this new climate since not all peanuts grow under the same conditions. They’re also looking into other methods of growing that might help the peanuts thrive. So, don’t go saving up your jars just yet because we still have some time, but don’t take that stuff for granted either. It could be a rare and expensive treat some day.