Climate Change Turns Valentine's Day Bitter

🍫 Climate Change Turns Valentine’s Day Bitter

Did you notice your Valentine’s Day chocolate tasting a little different this year? The chocolates inside many heart-shaped boxes this year likely contained more filler ingredients like nuts and fruits to offset the rising costs of pure chocolate. The price of raw cocoa, chocolate’s key ingredient, has surged by more than 200% over the last year. Just before Christmas, cocoa futures peaked above $12,000 per ton, setting a new record. Two years ago, they were less than $2,500. Some chocolatiers have been forced to raise prices by around 20%, and expect another price hike before the end of 2025. Disruptive weather patterns fueled by climate change have hammered West Africa, where most of the world’s cocoa is grown and processed. Cacao beans grow best in temperatures up to 89F with annual rainfall less than 2,000 millimeters. In 2024, 71% of cacao-producing areas in West Africa experienced 42 days above that temperature threshold and 40% more rainfall than expected, severely impacting the yield.

Maya Huter and Emilie Ikeda, NBC News

🌊 Salt Marshes Combating Climate Change

Natural carbon sinks have been a hot topic in the race to combat global climate change, with terrestrial sinks like forests and grasslands more commonly researched. A team of scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has recently been been studying and quantifying carbon capture in the Northeast’s salt marshes. Their work suggests that salt marshes store around 10 million cars’ worth of carbon in their top meter of soil and that salt marshes add approximately 15,000 additional cars’ worth each year. The lead author of the project says that these salt marshes can continuously increase their carbon storage and never fill up because wave by wave, tide by tide, new layers of carbon-trapping sediment are stored in the salt marsh grasses. However, the team warns that if these salt marshes are disturbed or their natural processes altered, they could release all those greenhouse gases, exacerbating climate change.

University of Massachusetts Amherst, Phys.org

📚 First M.S. in Climate Science Program Launches in U.S.

The Columbia Climate School recently announced the first master’s degree program in the United State for climate finance. The program will work in close collaboration with the Columbia Business School, and will drive impactful solutions to the climate crisis through advanced financial tools and scientific knowledge. The M.S. in Climate Finance is a one-year degree combining courses in climate science, adaptation and mitigation, international climate finance, capital markets, energy and infrastructure financing, and more. The school says there is a real demand in business and finance for practitioners who understand climate variability, climate risk, and emerging investment opportunities, and a program like theirs can help close that gap. This is the third master’s program announced by the Climate School, in addition to an M.A. in Climate and Society and an M.S. in Climate degree.

Columbia Climate School

Have you followed us on social media yet?

We are on social media under our sister product’s name, ForecastWatch. We’ll keep you up-to-date on our latest newsletters, reports, and services, and of course have a little fun. If you haven't already, give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Bluesky, and Threads!