Climate change will significantly impact every sector of the nation’s economy, according to university researchers who conducted the country’s first comprehensive study to assess the effects of climate change.
The report, released yesterday, recommends that the federal government act immediately to set policy that will curb emissions that contribute to global warming. Researchers found that various sectors of the economy, including several food industries and even infrastructures such as water treatment plants, would be severely affected.
“We’re hoping it’ll be a wake up call,” said Daria Karetnikov, one of the study’s authors and a graduate student in the school of public policy. “There’s limited knowledge, we don’t have complete information at all, but that shouldn’t prevent us from starting to act now.”
The study – entitled “The U.S. Economic Impacts of Climate Change and the Costs of Inaction,” – examined several areas of the economy using data and analysis compiled from other groups. While most studies focus on global warming’s environmental effects, the impact global warming will have on the economy has been overlooked in most research so far, said Matthias Ruth, lead researcher and director of the university’s Center for Integrative Environmental Research, which has conducted other studies on emissions in the past.
While it is currently impossible to estimate the total cost to the economy global warming will have, researchers saw the effects on various industries.
For example, the study found that in the Northeast, the maple sugar industry can be expected to lose between $5-12 million in annual revenue from a lack of sap flow that occurs when temperatures rise. The dairy industry could also suffer because cows produce less milk when temperatures rise above 77 degrees Fahrenheit. California’s dairy industry could lose $287-902 million annually, according to the study.
“Seemingly small changes can have far-reaching implications on goods and services,” said Ruth.
While there is still further research to be done on the effects of climate change, “a lot of research has already been done, so asking for more research to delay [governmental action] is not a strategy,” said Ruth.
The study also found that while there may be some economic benefits from climate change, the negative consequences will far outweigh these benefits. Furthermore, global warming can lead to higher prices, loss of jobs and a decrease in income.
“Some of the more serious effects on the economy could be averted by taking action now,” said Ruth. “We can think of some very obvious, very easy improvements that could be done using market methods.”
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