And if global temperatures keep rising as they do, it will cost the same as a permanent ongoing war.
Climate Change Costs Money
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It’s no secret that climate change causes damage to our planet, which costs money to fix / prevent. But when comparing studies done only a few months apart, those costs seem to skyrocket.
A Hefty Bill
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For example, a Sep 2023 study published in the journal Nature Communications found that, by 2050, the worldwide cost to fix the damage will be between $1.7 trillion and $3.1 trillion.
And that’s per year.
The Costs Are Rising
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A more recent study, conducted in April this year by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and supported by the German government, concluded that fixing global warming by 2050 could cost a whopping $38 trillion a year.
We’re Making It Worse
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That figure considers the costs of fixing the destruction of farming, infrastructure, productivity, and health by climate change. However, it’s sure to increase the more greenhouse gases we continue to emit.
In addition, the study also estimates that global warming will reduce the world’s GDP by 17% by 2050.
Where’s the Money?
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It was also found that not only are governments spending too little to control climate change, but also to adapt to its worldwide impact.
Higher Poverty Levels
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Should greenhouse gases persist at the current levels and the global average temperature exceeds 4°C, the projected economic impact post-2050 would mean a 60% reduction in income by 2100.
However, if we manage to keep that temperature rise to 2°C, the anticipated losses will decrease to about 20%.
Actually, It’s Worse…
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Another recent paper, ‘The Macroeconomic Impact of Climate Change: Global vs. Local Temperature’ by Harvard economist Adrien Bilal & Northwestern University economist Diego R. Känzig, released in May this year, found that the macroeconomic damages caused by global warming are six times more than originally calculated.
Miscalculations or Wishful Thinking?
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According to this research, the social costs of carbon (meaning the damage inflicted on each extra ton of carbon emissions) works out to around $1,056 per ton – a much higher figure than $190 per ton, which is the one previously calculated by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
What About Rising Temperatures?
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The study also concluded that a mere 1°C rise in global temperature equals a 12% reduction of the world’s GDP.
It’s Getting Hot(ter) in Here
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And since our world has already heated up by more than 1°C since pre-industrial times, many climate scientists agree that an increase of 3°C thanks to fossil fuels before the next century is unavoidable.
The Costs of War
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However, according to the findings, a 3°C increase will be “comparable to the economic damage caused by fighting a war domestically and permanently.”
Climate Change = Poorer People?
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As Bilal states in the study: “There will still be some economic growth happening but by the end of the century people may well be 50% poorer than they would’ve been if it wasn’t for climate change.”
Our Own Fault
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This is backed by the PIK study, as its co-author and climate data researcher Leonie Wenz claims: “The world population is poorer than it would be without climate change. It costs us much less to protect the climate than not to.”
Could Have Been Better
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Additionally, Bilal also says if global warming hadn’t existed for the past 50 years, the world’s purchasing power (which measures how much people are able to buy) would be 37% higher than it currently is.
And the UN?
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Just prior to last November’s COP28 summit in Dubai, UN agencies published various updates on the global efforts to curb climate change. The results were interesting…
Greenhouse Gases on the Rise
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For example, according to the UN Emissions Gap Report, the world’s greenhouse gases from 2021 to 2022 increased by 1.2%, equaling 57.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide for one year.
Way Behind
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Also, the emissions of greenhouse gases by 2030 are predicted to decrease by only 2% compared to 2019 levels – much lower than the 43% estimation deemed essential by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change needed to limit the planet’s rising temperature of 1.5°C.
Wealthy Countries Don’t Share
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According to the Adaptation Gap Report, about $387 billion was needed annually for adaptation initiatives to slow down climate change in 2021. But only $21 billion was available, equaling a shortfall of about $366 billion.
Worsening Weather
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Finally, we come to the fact that extreme weather events have been increasing globally, with damages caused by floods, heat waves, and hurricanes costing about $2.8 trillion, as per the Nature Communications study.
Now What?
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A methodology known as Extreme Event Attribution (EEA) was used by the researchers, which links human-related greenhouse gas emissions to extreme weather alterations.
Based on this, the study authors concluded that to rectify the damage caused by extreme weather only from 2000 to 2019 works out to approximately $143 billion – equaling about $16.3 million every hour!
The point of all this? We, meaning the world, literally can’t afford the problem that we have ourselves created and are continuing to worsen by the day.
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