I drink a lot of coffee, probably too much, but I afford myself this guilty pleasure fairly safe in the knowledge that there are much worse things I could be doing on a daily basis. If, like me, you drink enough coffee daily you can’t help but have seen coffee prices accelerating recently at a rate that makes gasoline increases look rather tame. Coincidentally, the fundamental reason for what has now been a 12 month spike in the price of coffee turns out to be climate change. Talk about inspiring me even more to combat global warming issues!

Seriously though, the recent coffee inflation has been primarily due to low crop yields and enforced movement of much coffee farming due to recent dramatic shifts of weather patterns in the regions where the morning brew is primarily grown. The perfect coffee bean is a little like the perfect grape needed to make good wine, only a relatively small piece of the planet is ideal for making the best and warmer temperatures have changed those perfect locations to higher altitudes. As you know the higher above sea level you go the cooler the weather will then become. The regions on Earth that yield the most coffee have traditionally been plantations located between 3,500 and 6,000 feet in altitude but a trend that has been ongoing for the last six years has seen many farmers needing to transform the hillsides to provide crops at about 7,000 feet just to find the ideal growing conditions.

Naturally enough the industry can’t be moved overnight and in the meantime yields have been dramatically down recently as coffee beans simply will not mature properly if the temperature variations are too extreme. Heavy rain has also contributed to the most recent price increases to exacerbate the situation even more notably. Scientists that study climate change have realized that tropical plants are more sensitive to changes in weather and are less adaptable, naturally enough coffee production is centred within tropical or subtropical regions. It’s been frustrating for growers to watch as the problems are not even consistent; some trees have just withered away whilst others flower far too early, while in other areas the plant appears to be going through normal annual cycle that is simply not returning a full harvest. Overall yields are down by 26 percent over the last decade and many farmers are not in a position to relocate the crops (assuming the local geography even allows for it) and some areas that previously were used for coffee plantations are now being transferred to other types of farming or cattle. One potential solution is the introduction of hardier coffee plants that will be more resistant to weather change but that still do not provide an immediate solution.

It’s unknown whether coffee prices will begin to return to what we considered to be normal just a year or two ago but the next time you’re in a drive-through queue waiting for your espresso or latte behind four or five gas guzzlers, perhaps tap on their windows, ask them to park their cars and walk into the coffee shop instead. It might even bring the prices down.