The Cost of Doing Nothing
"You’re probably already losing money because of #ClimateChange.
For the average American born in 2024, climate change could mean ending up nearly $500,000 poorer over their lifetime, according to a new report from Consumer Reports and the global consulting firm ICF. If the analysis included more uncertain factors, the cost could be closer to $1 million."
https://www.fastcompany.com/91106350/climate-change-costs-money-baby-born-2024-consumer-reports
The article focuses on what can be lost under the higher-emissions scenario, but this is the crucial point:
"Under the low emissions scenario considered in this analysis, the impacts on personal finance are lower— in some cases much lower— than presented here.
Overall net income would increase by 0.2% ($11,000) under the low emissions scenario (SSP1-2.6), whereas under the high scenario (SSP3-7.0) it would fall by 10% (a loss of $625,000)."
16-page report here:
https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/research/icf-report-2024/
This is the message:
A baby born this year can do as well as their parents if we cut carbon emissions.
Or they can lose up to a million bucks in their lifetime if we don't.
It's OUR choice
(and the choice is stark)
https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/research/icf-report-2024/
Again: doing nothing about #ClimateChange is EXPENSIVE
"#ClimateChange will inflict losses to the global economy worth an annual $38 trillion by 2049, as #ExtremeWeather ravages agricultural yields, harms labor productivity and destroys infrastructure, according to researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)."
Global GDP is $ 85 trillion a year.
So that $38 tn is nearly HALF of that.
"The researchers said cutting emissions and limiting global warming to 2C by the end of the century would be the most cost effective way to reduce further climate damages. “Protecting our climate is much cheaper than not doing so, and that is without even considering non-economic impacts such as loss of life or biodiversity,” Wenz said. "
"Even if CO2 emissions were to be drastically cut down starting today, the world economy is already committed to an income reduction of 19% until 2050 due to climate change, a study published in Nature finds. These damages are six times larger than the mitigation costs needed to limit global warming to two degrees."
"The countries least responsible for climate change, are predicted to suffer income loss that is 60% greater than the higher-income countries."
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-world-economy-committed-income-reduction.html
This report will move the needle: now that we're talking about a bite out of #GDP, *now* people are paying attention.
"#ClimateChange’s economic bite in how much people make is already locked in at about $38 trillion a year by 2049.
But if emissions increase in a worst case scenario, the financial wallop will be closer to 60%, he said."
"Mostly tropical nations—many with economies already shrinking due to climate damages—will be hit hardest, the study found."
Oh, and
"The new calculations may be conservative.
"They are likely to be an underestimate of the costs of climate change impacts."
https://phys.org/news/2024-04-climate-impacts-global-gdp.html
There are several ways to measure economic losses caused by #ClimateChange.
"What we don’t yet know about: linearity, growth or level effects, and obtaining an exhaustive measure of climate risk and its economic impact."
https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/measuring-economic-losses-caused-climate-change
#Hurricanes indirectly cause thousands of deaths for nearly 15 years after a storm, study finds
"A big storm will hit, and there's all these cascades of effects where cities are rebuilding or households are displaced or social networks are broken. These cascades have serious consequences for public health."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricanes-deaths-15-years-after-a-storm-study/
Healthcare costs for hurricane survivors also span years, and are harder to measure.
"Storms are a factor in between 55,000 to 88,000 excess deaths a year, the study concluded.
For the 85 years studied, the team calculated between 3.6 and 5.2 million people died with storms being a factor. That's more than the 2 million car crash deaths over that period, the study said.
“Reading this, it’s clear that humanity is very vulnerable to weather shocks, even in an incredibly rich country like ours,” Dessler said in an email."
The poorest and least responsible for climate change will always bear the highest burdens from it. It's not justice, it just is (unless we drastically change).
@CelloMomOnCars Tropical nations, yes, the ones who have not themselves contributed a lot of the emissions causing the climate crisis. The ones whose inhabitants are dying on the Mediterranean when they try to migrate away from the consequences.
Exactly those
And it should be added: the ones that try so so hard to mitigate their own already minimal emissions. See this thread on what Ethiopia is doing. Without help. Think of what they could accomplish given the right kind of climate finance.
@CelloMomOnCars the next decade is gonna be instense.