Imagine my surprise when I walked into Chipotle Mexican Grill last week and found myself paying more than I ever had for my chicken burrito bowl.

My order was the same, I was sure of it. I scanned my receipt, confused, until the kid who made my meal informed me that prices of everything in the restaurant had increased during the summer.

This wasn’t just happening in Chapel Hill. Chipotle recently raised prices nationwide about 4.5 percent and expects to see more inflation this year.

Why is this necessary?

Chipotle isn’t selling significantly less than before; if anything, the chain is increasing in popularity. Are they just greedy for the hard-earned wages of poor college students, desperate for burritos?

The price hike is a bit more complicated than that. The rising cost of food, largely caused by climate change and global weather disasters, has brought avocado, dairy and meat along with it in the past few years, said Jack Hartung, Chipotle’s CFO.

In fact, food prices are rising almost everywhere. Since 2007, there have been two huge spikes in international grain prices, with staple crops like corn, soybeans and wheat getting monumentally more expensive.

More and more, scientists are pointing to the environment as the cause of food shortages driving prices up. Temperatures are rising rapidly, shortening growing seasons and killing crops.

Freak weather disasters, which have been occurring with alarming frequency lately, have also hurt food. While it’s hard to imagine that a tsunami across the world can actually affect the price of a fast food meal here, the proof is in our empty wallets.

Chipotle isn’t the only chain forced to raise prices. Coca-Cola will raise drink prices between 3 and 4 percent within the year. And the average cost of groceries and restaurant meals went up 3.7 percent in the past year.

So, the inevitable truth is that we’re all doomed to start spending a lot more on food, a tragic scenario for the average college student. Cue sad music and tears running down the faces of UNC undergraduates, standing in front of the Chipotle counter with their bowls pleading, “Please sir, can I have some more?”

However, there may be hope. Almost all scientists studying the climate change and food problem agree on one fact: this is largely a human-induced crisis. Weather isn’t changing spontaneously. Our own actions led us into this trap.

The good news is that actions can be changed. I’m not about to preach that the “reuse, reduce, and recycle” mantra will solve the world’s massive food problems. However, it’s a start. Students, after all, are some of the world’s most wasteful inhabitants.

I’m not saying it’s going to change the world. But wouldn’t it be worth it if in two years, the price of a chicken burrito bowl was back down to less than $7?