Tuesday, 16th April 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Is This Goodbye? Chocolate Producing Plants May Go Extinct By 2050

By Njideka Agbo
06 January 2018   |   9:00 am
That is 32 years from now. This is because climate change has affected the cacao plant, which is responsible for the chocolates the human population produces. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have said that a temperature rise of just 2.1 degrees centigrade might put an to the chocolate industry. Almost all the world's cacao…

That is 32 years from now.

This is because climate change has affected the cacao plant, which is responsible for the chocolates the human population produces. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have said that a temperature rise of just 2.1 degrees centigrade might put an to the chocolate industry.

Almost all the world’s cacao plants are found in two countries, Ghana and  Cote D’Ivoire. With the climate change, that is the warmer temperature and dry climate, only 10.5% will be usable in the future, a study noted.

Mars Chocolate Candy. Photo credit: M&M.com

There is help on the way.

Mars, the chocolate candy factory and makers of M & M and Snickers, has joined forces with scientists at the University of California, Berkeley to use gene-editing technology to develop cacao plants that will withstand the weather temperature.

0 Comments