吃货朋友们，珍惜现在能吃到的巧克力吧，因为巧克力将在40年内消失。这绝不是危言耸听。
Experts predict the world could run out of chocolate within 40 years because cacao plants are struggling to survive in warmer climates.
专家预测称，由于可可树生长环境的变化，世界上的巧克力将在40年内消耗殆尽。
The trees can only grow within approximately 20 degrees north and south of the Equator - and they thrive under specific conditions such as high humidity and abundant rain.
可可树只能在赤道以南或者以北纬度约20度以内的地区生长——且它们需要特定的环境，如较高的湿度和充沛的雨水。
But a temperature rise of just 2.1C over the next 30 years caused by global warming is set to wreak havoc for the plants - and in turn the worldwide chocolate industry, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
但据美国国家海洋和大气管理局称，由于全球气候变暖，导致未来30年气温将上升2.1摄氏度，这将给可可树带来毁灭性灾害，从而影响全球巧克力的生产。
As the mercury rises and squeezes more water out of soil and plants, scientists believe it is unlikely that rainfall will increase enough to offset the moisture loss.
随着全球气温的不断升高，土壤和可可树的水分大量蒸发，科学家认为正常的降雨已经无法弥补水分的流失。
That means cacao production areas are set to be pushed thousands of feet uphill into mountainous terrain which is carefully preserved for wildlife by 2050.
如此一来，可可生产区的范围得不断向数千英尺高的山上移动，到2050年，可可树的种植区很可能被迫移至野生动物保护区。
Officials in countries such as C?te d’Ivoire and Ghana - which produce more than half of the world’s chocolate - will face an agonising dilemma over whether to maintain the world’s supply of chocolate or to save their dying ecosystems.
届时，科特迪瓦、加纳等可可的主要生产国家——全球一半以上的可可出自这里——就会面临困境：到底要确保世界范围内巧克力的供给，还是要挽救濒危的生态系统。
Last year experts predicted that the world was heading for a ’chocolate deficit’ as shoppers in developing countries snapped up more of the sweet treat.
由于越来越多的发展中国家的消费者开始热衷巧克力这种点心，专家曾在去年预测，全球将面临“巧克力短缺”的问题。
The typical Western consumer eats an average of 286 chocolate bars a year - more if they are from Belgium, the research titled Destruction by Chocolate found.
一篇名为“巧克力的毁灭”的报道称，西方国家的消费者一人每年平均约吃掉286块巧克力——如果是比利时的人，还不止这么多。
For 286 bars, producers need to plant 10 cacao trees to make the cocoa and the butter - the key ingredients in the production of chocolate.
生产商需要种植10棵可可树，才能获得生产286块巧克力所需的关键原料：可可和黄油。
Since the 1990s, more than a billion people from China, Indonesia, India, Brazil and the former Soviet Union have entered the market for cocoa.
自从上世纪90年代开始，来自中国、印度尼西亚、印度、巴西和前苏联等国家的超过10亿人也加入了可可消费大军。
Despite the increased demand, supply has not kept up and stockpiles of cocoa are said to be falling.
然而，需求不断增加的同时，可可的储存量却在下滑。
Doug Hawkins, from London-based research firm Hardman Agribusiness, said production of cocoa is under strain as farming methods have not changed for hundreds of years.
伦敦一家调研公司的道格.霍金斯认为，可可产量变少，是因为过去几百年来，它的耕作方式没有发生变化。
He said: ’Unlike other tree crops that have benefited from the development of modern, high yielding cultivars and crop management techniques to realise their genetic potential, more than 90 per cent of the global cocoa crop is produced by smallholders on subsistence farms with unimproved planting material.’
他说，“与其他得利于现代、高产和作物管理技术的作物不同，他们的产量得到了大幅提升，然而，全球超过90%的可可都是由小农户生产的，他们的种植方式一直没有升级改善。”
Some reports suggest cocoa growers in the world’s top producer country, Ivory Coast, have resorted to illegally farming protected forests to meet demand - what Mr Hawkins calls ’destruction by chocolate’.
一些报道称，作为世界上最大的可可生产国，科特迪瓦的种植者为了确保满足市场需求而在封禁区种植可可，霍金斯称之为“巧克力毁灭”。
He said: ’All the indicators are that we could be looking at a chocolate deficit of 100,000 tonnes a year in the next few years.’
他说，“所有这些迹象都表明，未来几年来，巧克力的年供应量将出现10万吨的缺口。”
