Environmental impacts of chocolate
The production of chocolate can have intense environmental impacts. Select all of the following ways that chocolate production can negatively impact the environment:
- Replacing native vegetation with cocoa tree monocultures increases the overall rate of plant transpiration, allowing a cooling effect on the climate.
- Clearing forest to plant cocoa trees reduces atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and greenhouse gases.
- Farmers will plant monocultures of cocoa plants, reducing the biodiversity of ecosystems.
- To keep up with the demand for cocoa beans, farmers clear cut land to plant cocoa plants.
- Fewer trees because of deforestation means less long-term carbon storage, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
- Burning plant wastes from deforestation increases greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
- Because older trees yield fewer pods, farmers continue to clear cut land to plant more cocoa plants.
- Farmers will plant monocultures of cocoa plants, so there are fewer chances for disease because of the decrease in biodiversity.
- Farmers clear cut land to plant cocoa trees, allowing sunlight to hit the ground, which increases the biodiversity of soil microbes.