Downfall of Chocolate by the Climate Crisis
Bailie-rae
It may come as a surprise but I myself do not like chocolate! I used to before the age of 5 but since then I have completely gone off it. But for those who like chocolate the climate crisis could leave companies struggling with being able to buy and source cocoa beans - the main ingredient of chocolate. So in this short blog I’ll tell you the story behind the effect the climate has on chocolate production!
Chocolate has a 4000 year history and it began in ancient Mesoamerica, known today as Mexico. This is where the first cacao plants were discovered and the Olmec, one of the earliest civilisations in Latin America turned the plant into chocolate. They incorporated chocolate as a drink into their religious practices, rituals and used it as medicine.
Today Chocolate is a delicacy all over the globe, and is mainly produced in Africa and Mexico.
It is here where reports have been made that climate change is causing complications. The sheer lack of rain has left the flowers without the substance they need to grow and develop the cocoa pods. They don’t develop in intense heat and without the rain it’s causing the harvest ans growth timeline execrable consequences.
Some advances have been made with modern technology to allow the development and resistance of the cocoa trees but it cannot yet reverse the toll the climate has had.
The supply continues to dwindle and so far sciencists predict it will continue to decline.
Climate caused disruption such as the heavy floooding and crop disease in West Africa , which produces over 60% of the world’s cocoa, last year augmented the bean drought. An another climate disaster could happen in the future, who is to say it couldn’t destroy all the cocoa plants in that area?
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