The price of cocoa beans hit a ten-year high due to poor harvests in West Africa, Bloomberg reported. Bad weather conditions — including heavy rains — have been detrimental to the region’s crops, which account for more than 66% of global production. The decrease in production has also affected processing causing leading manufacturers like Lindt & Spruengli AG to worry over chocolate prices and their impact on demand.

Climate conditions have been ruthless: Heavy rains, but also diseases affecting trees and causing beans to rot, in addition to climate phenomena like El Niño, have been hitting the chocolate industry. I vory Coast, the largest producer of cocoa in the world, expects its next harvest to decline by about a fifth from last year while the second-largest producer — Ghana — is also forecasting historically poor harvests, the business information service reports.

We’re getting a rare astronomical event next month: Two supermoon sightings next month mean we’re getting what is known as a “blue moon” phenomenon, according to the Associated Press. The first of the month’s supermoons will see the full moon appearing brighter and larger than this Tuesday. The moon will be nearer to Earth than usual — only 357,530 km away — and will even come closer on the night of 30 August, giving us the second supermoon of the month. “ The last time two full supermoons graced the sky in the same month was in 2018. It won’t happen again until 2037,” Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project said. The first supermoon of the year appeared in July, and the final one of 2023 will come to light in September.

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