Chocolate could soon be a thing of the past, after scientists warned that the cacao plant, from which chocolate is made, could disappear within 32 years.
Over half of the world's chocolate comes from just two countries in West Africa-Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana-where the temperature, rain, and humidity (湿度) provide the perfect conditions for cacao to grow. But the threat of rising temperatures over the next three decades caused by climate change, is expected to result in a loss of water from the ground, which scientists say could upset this balance.
According to the related data, a temperature rise of just 2.1℃ could spell an end for the chocolate industry worldwide by 2050. Farmers in the region are already considering moving cacao production areas thousands of feet uphill into mountainous area — much of which is currently preserved for wildlife. But a move like this could destroy ecosystems that are already under threat from illegal farming and deforestation.
Part of the problem, according to Doug Hawkins, is that cacao farming methods have not changed for hundreds of years. "Unlike other tree crops that have benefited from the development of modern, high producing kinds and crop management techniques to realize their genetic potential (潜能), more than 90% of the global cocoa crop is produced by small farms with unimproved planting material," he said, "It means that we could be facing a chocolate decrease of 100,000 tons a year in the next few years."
Now scientists at the University of California at Berkeley have teamed up with American candy company Mars to keep chocolate on the menu. Using the controversial (有争议的) gene-editing technology known as CRISPR they are trying to develop a type of the cacao plant able to survive in dryer, warmer climates. If the team's work on the cacao plant is successful, it could remove the need for farmers in West Africa to relocate to higher ground, and perhaps even allow cacao to be grown elsewhere in the world.