From Heatwaves to Chocolate Shortages: How Climate Change and Chocolate Shortages are Connected

Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it’s here. Still, we are doing nothing except bearing with it, even though we are forced to endure many more days of extreme heat. But never mind, we can turn up the aircon and Bob’s your uncle. But is Bob really your uncle?

Is turning a blind eye to governments worldwide ignoring scientists' warnings that the weather is going to get worse if we do nothing to stop this madness the right action? 

So far, across the globe, extreme heat is making water scarce, melting icebergs, causing our crops to suffer, and forcing us to swelter in unrelenting heatwaves.  Still, people are ignoring the signs and carry on struggling. We are too busy to notice what is going on, so we don't stand up to governments to demand that they adhere to the Paris agreement.

Do you think I exaggerate? I don’t think so, just look around. Billions of people are enduring summers that are too hot, fragile tourism zones are collapsing, and now even the chocolate industry is on the brink of collapse. Watch out, soon you'll be eating chocolate only at Christmas, and no more Easter eggs. 

An Extra Month of Heat for Billions

A recent study spanning May 2024 to May 2025 found that approximately 4 billion people—half the world’s population—experienced at least one additional month of extreme heat due to human-driven climate change (apnews.com). 

• Globally, heatwave days have doubled in nearly every country, wreaking havoc on heat-sensitive crops and energy infrastructures (apnews.com, apnews.com). 

• Reports show 41 extra days of dangerous heat in 2024, pushing temperatures toward the highest levels on record (apnews.com). 

  
  

These record-breaking temperatures aren’t just statistics—they translate to heat-related illness, reduced crop yields, and strain on healthcare and energy systems. 

Chocolate Also Is Feeling the Heat 

Cocoa trees, native to humid tropical climates, now face unprecedented stress: 

• Extended droughts, erratic rainfall, and blistering temperatures are drastically reducing cocoa yields in West Africa, the world’s chocolate heartland. 

• Experts are warning that chocolate could become “the next climate casualty”, as suitable land shrinks and farms struggle to adapt. 

Chocolate covered strawberries

Chocolate collage

This isn't a niche concern—chocolate prices are rising, and for many cocoa farmers, livelihoods hang in the balance. 

Cocoa trees

Cocoa trees thrive in humid, tropical climates with stable rainfall and moderate temperatures, but are now under severe stress due to climate change. Regions like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, which together produce over 60% of the world’s cocoa, are facing increasingly unpredictable weather patterns—including extended droughts, intense heatwaves, and erratic rainfall. These extreme conditions disrupt the delicate growth cycle of the cocoa tree, resulting in fewer flowers, lower yields, and increased susceptibility to pests and diseases. 

To find better growing conditions, farmers are compelled to move to higher elevations where it’s cooler. However, there is less land available at higher altitudes. Forests growing there are at risk of deforestation, and declining crop yields widen the gap between supply and global demand, driving prices skyward. 

This is not just a problem for chocolate lovers—many small-scale farmers in West Africa depend on cocoa as their main source of income. Without access to climate-resilient farming methods, they struggle to adapt, and entire communities risk economic collapse when the cocoa crop fails to thrive.  

Image by Alexander Stein downloaded from Pixabay

In global markets, the scarcity of quality cocoa has already begun to drive up prices, suggesting that chocolate could become more expensive and less accessible in the near future. What was once an affordable everyday treat may soon become a luxury, illustrating how climate change is sneakily reshaping both nature and the way we live. 

In response to the crisis brewing in West Africa, countries like Brazil are expanding cocoa cultivation, often by clearing parts of the Amazon rainforest to make way for new plantations.  

While cocoa offers an economic opportunity, the expansion into deforested or degraded rainforest areas raises serious environmental concerns. The Amazon is a vital carbon sink and a stabiliser of global climate patterns. When forests are cut down to plant cocoa, it accelerates biodiversity loss, releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide, and contributes to the same climate instability now threatening cocoa crops worldwide. 

Ironically, these newly planted cocoa trees are not immune to the impacts of climate change either. Like their West African counterparts, they require stable humidity, shade, and predictable weather conditions, which are rapidly vanishing due to rising temperatures and altered rainfall patterns in the Amazon basin.  

Deforesting more rainforest to accommodate cocoa production is not a viable long-term solution; it’s a short-sighted trade that exchanges ecological destruction for temporary economic gain, while ultimately undermining the crop’s own future. Climate change and chocolate storage are connected. Sustainable, shade-grown cocoa and regenerative farming practices must become the norm if we hope to protect both our forests and our chocolate. 

Man standing in front of burning Amazon Forrest

Trees cut down lyin in a pile in foreground. Few trees standing at the back of the photo

A road divides area where Amazon forest was destroyed from the other side where trees are growing

Call to Action to Manage Climate Change and Chocolate

Without swift and collective efforts, our summers will scorch longer, our oceans will warm faster, and chocolate will be a luxury only a few can enjoy. Please let us know in the comments what one thing you had to give up due to climate change. What will convince you that climate change isn’t something that will go away? It happened once before. Have you seen any dinosaurs around lately? 

Understanding environmental changes empowers us to demand stronger climate policies from governments, support regenerative farming practices, and make personal sustainable choices every day. 

To get empowered, read more powerful articles like this one on Wise Owl Lifestyle—to stay informed, inspired, let’s act for a cooler, safer, and sweeter future. Subscribe to our mailing list below to ensure you see each article as soon as it is published.

 Sources 

1. News24: "Half the world faced an extra month of extreme heat due to climate change" (May 31, 2025) 

2. News24: "Chocolate: the next climate casualty, scientists warn" (Feb 12, 2025) 

3. AP News: Heatwaves intensified by climate change, adding 41 days of dangerous heat in 2024 (apnews.com) 

4. AP News: Half the world endured an extra month of extreme heat (apnews.com) 

5. The Guardian: Marine heatwave five times size of Australia (theguardian.com) 

6. Food Navigator: How climate change is affecting cocoa 

7. Independent / IWMI: images showing cocoa crop stress 

8. DownToEarth / Conversation: Extreme weather disrupting tourism in South Africa (downtoearth.org.in, theconversation.com) 

9. Greenpeace Africa: Implications of extreme weather on African communities (greenpeace.org)