Climate change, soon we will have to say goodbye (also) to truffles

The survival of the black truffle is seriously threatened by climate change resulting from global warming, this is what the researchers claim according to which by 2100 this delicious product could disappear completely. But let's see how it is possible and how much money we risk losing.

The truffle is included in the list of the food we will have to say goodbye to because of the climate changes for which we are responsible. This is what the researchers of the University of Stirling say in their study entitled "A risk assessment of Europe's black truffle sector under predicted climate change" published in the Science of The Total Environment magazine. How is it possible?

Farewell to truffles

 According to scientists, the profitable truffle industry is destined to disappear within two generations due to climate change. In the near future we will in fact have to live with a warmer and drier climate that will lead to the decline of truffles that could even be accelerated by other factors, such as heat waves, forest fires, pests and diseases.

Black truffle under attack in Europe

When we talk about the black truffle, the Tuber melanosporum, we refer to a product that today costs more than 1,100 euros per kilo and that can be calculated to bring in annual revenues of 5 billion euros over the next 10/20 years. A profitable future if we do not take into consideration the effects of climate change that will lead to a much less rosy future for this sector.

How much time remains

Taking into consideration climate prediction, and therefore global warming and drying up, scientists calculate that between 2071 and 2100 we will lose between 78 and 100% of truffle production. "But if we take other factors into consideration, such as heat waves, forest fires, drought events, pests and diseases, the decline of the truffle could even accelerate," the experts explain.

An important economic damage

 If the disappearance of animal species does not seem to upset us, if the destruction of entire habitats and ecosystems does not seem to interest us, if the crazed climate does not seem to worry us, perhaps the loss of billions of euros linked to truffles will make us open our eyes to the effects of global warming and the resulting climate change.