{"id":314011,"date":"2024-03-28T13:29:47","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T12:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=314011"},"modified":"2024-03-28T13:29:50","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T12:29:50","slug":"wrong-daily-mail-climate-change-isnt-causing-a-chocolate-easter-egg-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=314011","title":{"rendered":"Wrong, Daily Mail, Climate Change Isn\u2019t Causing a Chocolate Easter Egg Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From ClimateRealism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By H. Sterling Burnett<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Daily Mail<\/em> posted an alarming Easter themed story saying climate change has caused the price of chocolate Easter eggs to increase. This is false. Chocolate Easter eggs and other chocolate candies have seen prices increase; however, data prove it isn\u2019t due to a shortage of cocoa beans since cocoa production has risen as the Earth has warmed. If climate change isn\u2019t harming cocoa production, it can\u2019t be behind the rising prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith Easter fast approaching, you might have already begun to notice that Easter eggs are more expensive this year,\u201d opens the Daily Mail<\/em>\u2019s article, titled Chocolate Easter eggs have risen in price by 50% or more in the UK \u2013 and scientists say climate change is to blame<\/a>. \u201cBut this isn\u2019t just due to inflation, as scientists say climate change is a key reason your chocolate is costing more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccording to researchers from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), a combination of wet heatwaves and drought have battered this year\u2019s cocoa harvest,\u201d writes the Daily Mail<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ECIU\u2019s claim is false on a number of counts. First, across the region making up West Africa, it is common, not rare, for it to have heatwaves and heavy rains, interspersed with periods of drought. Those conditions are known as typical weather there. Hot weather is the norm across West Africa. While the northern part of West Africa is semi-arid Sahel, a transition from the Sahara to the savannah grasslands, much of the region is tropical forests where rainfall is common and commonly heavy. So, a \u201cwet heatwave\u201d is not uncommon and cocoa production, in fact, requires and thrives in hot wet conditions, which is why most global cocoa production comes jungles and forests near the equator, where much of West Africa lies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rains are interspersed with periods of intense drought, especially in the arid northern part of West Africa. As the U.S. National Science Foundation wrote<\/a> recently, \u201cWest African droughts are the norm, not an anomaly \u2026 some droughts lasted centuries in the past \u2026.\u201d So a single year\u2019s drought after heavy rain is not proof or even an indication of climate change. Indeed, history indicates that West Africa cycles periodically from wet periods to dry periods lasting multiple decades each. Multiple studies, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>, for example, confirm the region\u2019s climate history. Since 1991, the Sahel region in West Africa has been in a rainy period recovering from an extended dry period from the early 1970s to the 1990s. As has been pointed out repeatedly at Climate Realism<\/em>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>, for example, scientific bodies recognize climate change as indicated by a shift in average weather recorded over a 30-year period, not the weather happening in a single year or couple of years. There is no trend for either drought or extreme rainfall which would indicate climate change is impacting normal rainfall patterns in West Africa, rather recent weather has been well within the historic cyclical norms for the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While weather hasn\u2019t changed much in West Africa\u2019s cocoa production region, cocoa production has, increasing dramatically even has the weather has varied from year to year. Like most other crops, cocoa production has grown substantially during the recent period of climate change in response, in part, to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. During the period when climate alarmists claim warming has been most severe,\u00a0data<\/a>\u00a0from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization show that between 1992 to 2022 (the latter being the most recent year for which data is available): Cocoa bean production in West Africa increased by more than 158 percent. West Africa set records for production 17 times during that period, most recently in 2022. (see the figure, below)<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Globally the story is much the same. Global cocoa bean production from 1992 to 2022 grew by nearly 120 percent, setting records for production 19 times, with each of the last six years setting new records for production. (see the figure, below)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Because the climate in West Africa isn\u2019t changing and cocoa production is setting records, one can hardly blame climate change for the higher costs of chocolate Easter eggs in the United Kingdom or anywhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, in its story the Daily Mail<\/em> pointed to two other more likely candidates for the price increase: El Ni\u00f1o and inflation. Sadly, the Daily Mail<\/em> promptly downplayed these two tangible factors to play up the false climate change angle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The past two years wide weather swings across the globe have been dominated by the shift from a La Ni\u00f1a to a \u201cstrong El Ni\u00f1o year,\u201d as the Daily Mail<\/em> admits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there is the dramatic increase in inflation affecting most of the world, complicated by supply chain issues. It should be noted that inflation is being driven, in part, by developed countries\u2019 climate policies that have raised the costs of fossil fuel production and use which has contributed to higher costs for the energy used to process and the fuels used to transport cocoa and finished chocolate products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To conclude, there is no evidence climate change has played any role in the U.K.\u2019s chocolate Easter egg crisis. Rather than publishing one more \u201cclimate change is causing everything bad\u201d fairy tale, the\u00a0Daily Mail<\/em>, would better serve their readers by checking the facts and publishing them. Doing so would reduce its readers\u2019 climate anxiety and in the process direct their attention to a more likely cause of higher chocolate prices: government climate policies which increase energy costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Daily Mail\u00a0posted an alarming Easter themed story saying climate change has caused the price of chocolate Easter eggs to increase. This is false. Chocolate Easter eggs and other chocolate candies have seen prices increase; however, data prove it isn\u2019t due to a shortage of cocoa beans since cocoa production has risen as the Earth has warmed. If climate change isn\u2019t harming cocoa production, it can\u2019t be behind the rising prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":314017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691827912,691818056,691827913,691827911,691827914],"class_list":["post-314011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chocolate-easter-egg","tag-climate-change","tag-daily-mail","tag-easter-egg-crisis","tag-energy-and-climate-intelligence-unit-eciu","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0-cocoa-bean-production.jpeg?fit=1600%2C1067&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1jGH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":440210,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=440210","url_meta":{"origin":314011,"position":0},"title":"Great Climate Chocolate Scare Melts Away as Global Cocoa Bean Prices Slump by 75%","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/18\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"After two years of weather-driven harvest failures in West Africa sent cocoa prices skyrocketing, the market has corrected dramatically\u2014and the doomsday predictions are melting faster than a cheap Easter egg.","rel":"","context":"In \"BBC\"","block_context":{"text":"BBC","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bbc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Great-Climate-Chocolate-Scare-Melts-Away-as-Global-Cocoa-Bean-Prices-Slump-by-75.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Great-Climate-Chocolate-Scare-Melts-Away-as-Global-Cocoa-Bean-Prices-Slump-by-75.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Great-Climate-Chocolate-Scare-Melts-Away-as-Global-Cocoa-Bean-Prices-Slump-by-75.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-Great-Climate-Chocolate-Scare-Melts-Away-as-Global-Cocoa-Bean-Prices-Slump-by-75.jpg?fit=784%2C1168&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":436875,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=436875","url_meta":{"origin":314011,"position":1},"title":"\u2018Easter Eggflation\u2019 is Not Due to Climate Change, Euro News","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"04\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Euro News posted an article, \u201c\u2018Easter eggflation\u2019: How climate change and budget cuts have sent the price of chocolate soaring,\u201d claiming that global warming is leading to the destruction of cocoa production in West Africa, which is leading to ever higher prices for chocolate. Based on real world data, this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0bru-no-rabbit-4937620-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0bru-no-rabbit-4937620-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0bru-no-rabbit-4937620-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0bru-no-rabbit-4937620-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0bru-no-rabbit-4937620-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":312192,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=312192","url_meta":{"origin":314011,"position":2},"title":"Justin Rowlatt\u2019s Easter\u00a0Egg","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/23\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today\u2019s misinformation from Justin Rowlatt: You may have noticed that Easter eggs are more expensive this year. But did you know that climate change is one of the reasons?","rel":"","context":"In \"BBC\"","block_context":{"text":"BBC","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bbc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0-Easter-Eggs.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0-Easter-Eggs.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0-Easter-Eggs.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0-Easter-Eggs.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/0-Easter-Eggs.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":278751,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=278751","url_meta":{"origin":314011,"position":3},"title":"Podcast Report: Send Rollie an Easter\u00a0Egg","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/14\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Rollie Williams is a comedian who has a masters degree in Climate Science and Policy. He has a YouTube channel called\u00a0Climate Town. He puts out about one or two slick, very well made videos a month that are in a style like John Oliver, Steven Colbert and all the other\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Town\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Town","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-town"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0Screenshot-2023-09-14-154033.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0Screenshot-2023-09-14-154033.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0Screenshot-2023-09-14-154033.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0Screenshot-2023-09-14-154033.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0Screenshot-2023-09-14-154033.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":263972,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=263972","url_meta":{"origin":314011,"position":4},"title":"Correct, CNN, Cocoa Prices Are Due to Natural Weather Conditions and Disease","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"06\/26\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent story published to CNN\u2019s website helpfully explains the reasons behind rising cocoa prices, and some of the struggles that cocoa farmers around the world have been facing during the past season. These difficulties and low yields are due to natural weather events and disease, not climate change, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0-Cocoa.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0-Cocoa.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0-Cocoa.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0-Cocoa.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/0-Cocoa.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":418035,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=418035","url_meta":{"origin":314011,"position":5},"title":"Quit Lying, The New Republic, Climate Change Isn\u2019t Threatening \u2018Favorite Holiday Foods\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/21\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent story published by The New Republic claims that various foods, popular especially during the Christmas holiday season, are declining due to climate change, perhaps soon to disappear from store shelves entirely. This is false. Despite the anecdotal tales told by The New Republic about specific farmers\u2019 respective plights,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"cinnamon\"","block_context":{"text":"cinnamon","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=cinnamon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0spices-4606877_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0spices-4606877_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0spices-4606877_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0spices-4606877_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0spices-4606877_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=314011"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":314019,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314011\/revisions\/314019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/314017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=314011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=314011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=314011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}