Climate Corner: Life is sweeter with chocolate

Oct 25, 2025

Linda Eve Seth

editorial@newsandsentinel.com

As long as there is chocolate, there will be happiness. – Wayne Gerard Trotman

Over the past several years I have written here about the impact of climate change on many of our favorite commodities and critters: coffee, apples, tequila, polar bears, birds, insects, wildflowers. My concern isn’t just about saving coffee, apples, etc. – it’s about preserving the planet’s capacity to sustain life as we know it.

People around the world love chocolate. But like so many of the foods people love and consume on a regular basis, chocolate is threatened by climate change. Climate change is significantly impacting chocolate production due to its effects on cacao crops. Rising temperatures and altered rainfall patterns, including both droughts and excessive rainfall, are stressing cacao trees, leading to reduced yields and lower quality beans, which in turn drives up chocolate prices.

Chocolate is made from cocoa, which are the dried and fermented seeds from the cacao tree. Cacao is the name of both the seed that is used to make chocolate and the plant that bears it. The trees are finicky and mostly grow in a narrow, humid 20-degree band to the north and south of the equator. This means nearly all cocoa beans come from a relatively small number of countries. Farmers in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and other countries in West Africa grow around 70% of the world’s cacao. Central and South America, where the cacao plant originates, is home to important growing regions in Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. It is also grown in Indonesia.

These places are all susceptible to the ravages of climate change. One study found that, while climate change’s impact is global, tropical equatorial regions with little yearly temperature variability will be hit the quickest and the hardest. Conditions in West Africa have changed dramatically due to extreme rainfall and spoiled crops during the dry season in 2023 and the drought in 2024. A report from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture predicted that cacao suitability in West Africa could start to critically decline as soon as 2030.

Scientists are still figuring out what that means for where commercial cacao trees will grow as temperatures rise. Cacao trees thrive in warm, but not excessively hot, conditions (up to 90°F). Climate change is bringing more extreme heat, pushing temperatures beyond the optimal range for cacao growth, negatively impacting yields and bean quality. Farmers in the region have struggled with heat, disease, and unusual rainfall in recent years, which have contributed to falling production.

Last year, the hottest year globally on record, they found global heating in West Africa drove temperatures above 89.6 degrees F – above levels considered optimum for cacao trees — on at least 42 days across two-thirds of the areas analyzed. Researchers point out that excessive heat can contribute to a reduction in the quantity and quality of the harvest.

But increasing heat is not the biggest climate challenge facing cacao growing regions; it’s the amount of water available. The most impacted regions are where the temperature rises without an increase in rainfall. A study published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that West African cacao farms would need to move higher in elevation toward protected mountainous forests to find a suitable growing climate with enough rainfall. It also found that 90% of cacao producing locations could be less suitable by 2050.

The global cocoa supply is projected to fall significantly, leading to reduced production, supply chain disruptions, and increased costs for consumers. Efforts are underway to replant and improve farming practices, but these efforts will take years to have a substantial impact.

Today’s research is exploring climate-resilient and biodiversity-friendly farming practices to mitigate the impacts of climate change on cocoa production. Some companies are also exploring alternative products that can replicate the taste and experience of chocolate without relying solely on cocoa.

While it’s not fully understood what the future holds, one thing is clear: The chocolate in our candy, cakes, and other confections, will face a series of climate-related challenges in the near future.

Imagine the kids’ dismay if their Halloween trick-or-treat baskets contain no Hershey’s kisses, no Mars bars, no Kit Kats, no almond bars, no Reese’s pieces …

Until next time, be kind to your Mother Earth.

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Linda Eve Seth, SLP, M.Ed., is a mother, grandmother, concerned citizen and member of Mid-Ohio Valley Climate Action.