Somewhere in Springfield, Homer Simpson just let out the biggest, loudest, longest "Doh!" of his entire life; according to a climate scientist from the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, beer is likely going to become very expensive in the future. Jim Salinger says global warming is wreaking havoc on the production of malting barley and will cause the grain to be in short supply, especially in Australia and New Zealand. Malting barley is a key grain needed to make beer.

"It will mean either there will be pubs without beer or the cost of beer will go up," Salinger told the Institute of Brewing and Distilling convention.  "It will provide a lot of challenges for the brewing industry," even forcing breweries to look at new varieties of malt barley as a direct result of climate change, Salinger said.

Salinger only addressed the effect this will have in Australia and New Zealand, but is it expected to be a problem that occurs worldwide. Australia has been experiencing a severe drought, and as growing regions including Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales become drier, the level of beer production is expected to drop.

The costs of malted barley, sugar, aluminum and sugar have already increased thanks to the effects of climate change, and barley growers are also dealing with other issues such as competition for land use from other industries.

» MSNBC Environment