This year's Easter eggs will be [much / many] more expensive than last year's. The reason is climate change. Extreme weather [pattern / patterns] have made growing cocoa more [challenge / challenging] . Cocoa beans are used to make chocolate. Around 70 per cent [of / in] the world's cocoa beans are [grown / growth] in West Africa. Recent heatwaves, [draughts / droughts] and heavy rain in Ghana and the Ivory Coast have greatly reduced the amount of cocoa beans grown. Temperatures have [been / being] four degrees higher than [normally / normal] . The Reuters news agency said cocoa prices have more than [double / doubled] compared to this time last year. Amber Sawyer, an energy and climate analyst, said farmers in West Africa were, "struggling in the [head / face] of both extreme heat and rainfall".
Chocolate eggs are given as [gift / gifts] for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection [of / on] Jesus. Traditionally, people [dyed / died] and painted chicken eggs. Wikipedia says chocolate eggs first appeared at the [court / garden] of Louis XIV in France in 1725. In 1873, the English chocolate company J.S. Fry produced the first [culture / hollow] chocolate egg, similar to the ones people give today. Wikipedia says: "In Western cultures, the [giving / given] of chocolate eggs is now commonplace, with 80 million Easter eggs sold in the UK [lonely / alone] ." However, climate change is making it more difficult to [eat / grow] the cocoa beans. Climate analysts [speak / say] we need to do more to reduce fossil fuel emissions if we want a steady [supply / bar] of cocoa and chocolate.
