Climate change makes tea harvestors bitter – 10 March 2012, ThomasNet News

Recent reports illustrate how climate change is requiring farmers to alter their harvest methods. A recent Agence France-Presse report illustrates how climate change requires farmers to alter their harvest methods. Rooibos, a long-popular South African tea that has recently been introduced as a sweet, calorie-conscious beverage option in the West, is grown in the extremely dry and hot conditions of western South Africa, where temperatures can reach 118°F (48°C) in the winter. Tea estate Groenkol Rooibus owner Willem Engelbrecht says rising temperatures and hotter winters have necessitated harvesting changes.