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Billions of people around the world agree that day doesn't begin until after their cup of coffee.

We all know that too much coffee gives us the jitters or has us staring at the ceiling until the wee hours,

but that's the trade-off we make for its euphoric jolt to our nervous system.

We're not giving up our Java, our mud, our waky juice.

If you want it, well, you'll have to pry our hands from our cold brew.

Well, drink up because your morning coffee may be disappearing.

There's a growing body of scientific research that is demonstrating that coffee plants and

many producing regions are under threat of crop reduction due in part to fluctuating temperature,

also in part due to water scarcity.

Before you panic about a dreaded switch to tea, scientists are searching for alternatives

to traditional coffee plants that are less resource intensive and even beneficial for the

environment.

Not only might we save coffee, but it might save us. Hear how it could literally build a sustainable future.

I'm Seth Shostak, and this is Big Picture Science from the SETI Institute.

I'm Molly Bentley.

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