This is not your average rainfall

Year after year, it rains in the mountains, helping to complete the ripening process of the coffee cherries, a natural process that is no longer so natural. I remember from my years as a student, more than 20 years ago to be exact, when my professor of agrometeorology told us that meteorologists and prophets were both in crisis because it was getting extremely hard to predict natural events in spite of the great scientific and technological advances. He used to say that, without a doubt, human activity was at fault for the changes in weather patterns. In those days, people believed that the oceans were an inexhaustible source of food and that when the land could no longer provide us with sustenance, we would turn to the seas.

We could have never imagined how far we were from the truth. Without a doubt, being a prophet is no longer a good business to be in.

This year the rainy season has brought Mexico and other Central American countries more than they wished for. Vast amounts of pastureland and crops like corn, mango, avocado and sugarcane—which in many cases are the main source of food and earnings for families—have been lost to the worst floods ever recorded. Some places have received, in just a few months, five times the rainfall they would receive in a normal year. And it is not over yet. The rainy season is expected to last for at least another month, and the hurricane season doesn’t seem to be slowing down. I hope that the meteorologists are wrong, although this time I doubt they are.

In Mexico not all coffee-growing regions have been hit as hard by the floods, especially those at higher altitudes. States like Oaxaca, on the other hand, have suffered numerous landslides. Eighty percent of rural roads are damaged, and many communities are cut off and isolated. What’s more, the fuel and machinery that are required to repair those roads are scarce, and many communities are still without electricity. In the mountains of Oaxaca and Chiapas the excessive rainfall has softened the ground, provoking landslides that have already taken human lives. In Chiapas, 50 percent of the coffee crop has been lost. As a result, the harvesting and commercialization of coffee will be undeniably more complicated and expensive than usual.

While some scientists and some sectors of the coffee industry worry about developing mathematical models that will predict the displacement of coffee plantations when the temperature increases by one degree, many organizations and coffee producers wonder what will happen with the weather and what they can do to protect the environment. Now more than ever, they have realized that the health of the mountains where they grow their coffee is vital because it reduces the risk of flooding in low lands and preserves microclimates and biodiversity, all important elements that keep our climate in balance.

Climate change is our responsibility. It is time that we take this topic seriously before another 20 years pass, and we find out that there is nothing left to do. It is time to pay attention to the millions of people who are warning us. It is something that will not just affect future generations— it is something that is already affecting us. The good news is that it is not too late. We still have time to change some of our habits and contribute to the healing of our planet.