Easter eggs will be much more expensive this year. The reason is climate change. Extreme weather has made growing cocoa more challenging. Cocoa beans are used to make chocolate. Around 70 per cent of the world's cocoa beans are grown in West Africa. Recent heatwaves and heavy rains have greatly cut the amount of cocoa beans grown. The Reuters news agency said cocoa prices have more than doubled in the past year. A climate analyst said farmers in West Africa were, "struggling in the face of both extreme heat and rainfall".
People give chocolate eggs for the Christian holiday of Easter. This celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. Wikipedia says chocolate eggs first appeared in France in 1725. In 1873, the English chocolate company J.S. Fry made the first hollow chocolate egg. It was similar to the ones we can buy today. Wikipedia says: "In Western cultures, the giving of chocolate eggs is now commonplace." However, climate change is making it more difficult to grow cocoa beans. Climate analysts say we need to cut fossil fuel emissions if we want to keep having cocoa and chocolate.
Try the same news story at these levels:
Easter Eggs - Level 0, Easter Eggs - Level 1 or Easter Eggs - Level 3
Sources- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_egg https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68619912
- https://www.ecowatch.com/chocolate-more-expensive-climate-change.html
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cocoa-prices-surge-chocolate-bunnies-easter/
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