Experts predict the world could run out of chocolate within 40 years because cocoa plants are struggling to live in warmer climates.
The trees can only grow within about 20 degrees north and south of the equator, and they grow under specific conditions such as wet environment and plenty of rain. But a temperature rise of just 2.1°C over the next 30 years caused by global warming is set to ruin the plants and in turn the worldwide chocolate industry. As more water went out of soil and plants, it is unlikely that rainfall will increase enough to offset the loss. That means cocoa production areas are set to be pushed thousands of feet higher into mountainous places which are carefully preserved for wildlife by 2050.
Officials in countries such as Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, which produce more than half of the world’s chocolate, will face a hard choice of whether to keep the world’s supply of chocolate or to save their dying environment.
Last year experts predicted that as chocolate is becoming more and more popular among people from developing countries, the whole world will face a shortage of it. Since the 1990s, more than a billion people from China, Indonesia, India and Brazil have entered the market for cocoa. Despite the increased demand, supply has not kept up and storage of cocoa are said to be falling. Production of cocoa is under strain as farming methods have not changed for hundreds of years. We could be looking at a chocolate shortage of 100,000 tonnes a year in the next few years.
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