New study reveals troubling findings that could impact coffee drinkers around the world: 'We can … make a direct connection'

In economics, goods and services are typically classified as "elastic" or "inelastic" — the former, typically optional purchases, and the latter, necessities such as shelter, food, and energy.

Then there's coffee.

As The Weather Channel recently noted, it is considered "a ritual," "a personality trait," and, for daily coffee drinkers, "a nonnegotiable" that is becoming increasingly costly worldwide.  

What's happening?

Americans might be "divided" on many issues, but coffee is decidedly not one of them.

According to the National Coffee Association, 66% of Americans drink it daily, with the average coffee consumer getting their caffeine fix up three times a day. Seven in 10 consume coffee weekly.

As The Weather Channel noted, Federal Reserve data showed that the price of a pound of coffee rose more than 33% over the past year.

Coffee prices jumped from $4.17 in January 2020 to $7.02 in January 2025 and $9.37 last month.

Tariffs had a hand in recent increases, but meteorologist Lauren Linahan (@LinahanWX) recently addressed why coffee prices have been "unusually high lately" in a Facebook reel. 

Linahan cited a Feb. 18 study from Climate Central that examined the link between extreme weather events in the world's coffee-growing nations and sustained high coffee prices. 

In the clip, she explains that coffee crops were "more prone to heat stress" on days when the temperature exceeded 86 degrees. 

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Moreover, Linahan indicates that crops in Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Vietnam endured coffee-damaging heat for "more than 144 days on average per year." 

Why is this concerning?

Linahan notes that this uptick in heat stress was a direct result of human activity, particularly burning fossil fuels.

"In fact, we can make a direct connection to extreme weather events linked to climate change" as a primary driving cause of higher coffee prices, she states.

Extreme weather is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon driven by rising temperatures, which increase atmospheric evaporation and intensify already severe weather systems such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and blizzards. 

Extreme weather is costlier and deadlier, marked in part by its deviation from standard weather patterns — and extreme heat is the deadliest form of it. 

Scientific American reported that extreme heat is "deadlier than hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes combined," and the World Economic Forum warned it was a "silent killer" and the "deadliest climate risk of our time," causing nearly 500,000 deaths each year.

In short, extreme weather isn't just making a cup of coffee exorbitant — it's a massive risk to ecosystems, wildlife, and people. 

What's being done about it?

The Weather Channel reported that land suitable for coffee crops could "decrease by 50% by the year 2050" if no action is taken.

Farmers in Colombia have started replacing coffee crops with cacao to offset their losses, planting coffee that can withstand higher temperatures as well as native trees to shade delicate crops.

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