Economics of Climate Change

We all know about the recent and serious warnings about climate change (if not, there are some helpful links below). Globally rising temperatures, melting ice caps, and warming oceans (along with ocean acidification) are all extreme environmental effects of this issue. Since these facts are not enough for some to become very worried, there are also major economic impacts as a result of the effects of climate change.

Estimates on these impacts show that they will begin to cost the U.S. from $296 billion to $540 billion (Martinich & Crimmins). Property and infrastructure damages, declining human health and productivity, and increased demand for energy due to lack of reliable power generation are all examples of this, along with disruption in trade as a result of the other countries that will be heavily affected. Agriculture, infrastructure, and tourism are among the most endangered sources of revenue for the United States that will be harmed directly by climate change effects, along with businesses.

Another source lists facts about the "economics of climate change," among them the points that low-income countries will lose larger shares of their economic outputs than others; the price of renewable energy is falling (meaning it will be more beneficial to use these sources as alternatives); "damages to the U.S. economy grow with temperature change at an increasing rate."

Extreme weather patterns, not completely linked to climate change but definitely affected in some ways, also cause extreme damages to the land and, therefore, to the economy, such as the fires (such as the many recent ones in California) and hurricanes. Because of these patterns, insurance companies will raise premiums, making insurance unaffordable to more people. Another current issue caused by rising sea levels and other natural extreme weather is immigration: "since 2008, 22.5 million people have been displaced by climate-related or extreme weather events" (Markham).

These are only a few examples of the economic impacts of climate change. Solutions are currently being searched for, with the UN, the Paris Climate Accord (from which President Trump announced the United States would withdraw), and multiple climate change summits. Hopefully, people (especially skeptics) will become better educated on the massive and irreversible effects from an economic standpoint, if they are not fully convinced by an environmental one.

Source Links:
- https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2019/06/20/climate-change-economy-impacts/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0444-6
- https://www.brookings.edu/research/ten-facts-about-the-economics-of-climate-change-and-climate-policy/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/opinion/sunday/immigration-climate-change-trump.html
- https://www.thebalance.com/economic-impact-of-climate-change-3305682

Climate Change Links:
1. UN: https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-change/
2. NASA: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
3. IPCC: https://www.ipcc.ch/
4. GlobalChange: https://www.globalchange.gov/climate-change