Falling “Himalayan Viagra” harvest blamed on climate change

All around the world, global warming is being blamed for rising sea levels, shrinking glaciers, and extreme weather. But could climate change be a threat to sex lives everywhere?

The Kathmandu Post recently reported that yarchagumba is on the decline, likely due to climate change, overharvesting, and other factors. The fungus known as “Himalayan Viagra” is collected in the highlands of Nepal every year.

Yarchagumba forager Narendra Thekare told the Post: “There is no rainfall since two months in the highlands and snowfall is very thin. Production of Yarchagumba is declining over the past five years. If this situation remains for some years, Yarchagumba might be vanished.”

According to AFP, Chinese herbalists believe yarchagumba, made up of the larva of the Himalayan ghost moth and the Cordyceps fungus, is an aphrodisiac.

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