Climate change will cost the U.S. economy dearly in the form of property damage, lost output and even deaths, a nonpartisan group backed by a trio of some of the heaviest hitters in the world of business said Tuesday.
According to a report published by the so-called Risky Business Project, American industry needs to start factoring weather and environmental-related losses into the cost of doing business, and take tangible steps toward reducing carbon emissions.
The group describes itself as nonpartisan and is chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Thomas F. Steyer, a former hedge fund manager
Among the dire predictions in the report:
Higher sea levels combining with storm surges will cost the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf of Mexico coastlines up to $35 billion U.S. a year.
Increased drought and flooding will lead to a decline in crop yields of about 10% per year, on average, for farmers.
Between $66 billion and $106 billion U.S. worth of existing coastal property will likely be below sea level by 2050 in America alone, with $238 billion to $507 billion U.S. worth of property below sea level by 2100.
Temperature changes driven by greenhouse gas will require about $12 billion U.S. a year to build new power plants capable of producing as much as 95 gigawatts of electricity (about the equivalent of roughly 300 coal or natural-gas plants).
The productivity of outdoor workers will decline by about 3% per year as America begins to experience three times as many days where the outside temperature is higher than 35 C every year.
The report says the U.S. southeast will likely be affected both by sea-level rise and extreme temperatures, with the latter leading to 11,000 to 36,000 additional deaths per year.
Crop yields will be most impacted in the Midwest, declining by 19% by 2050 and by 63% by the year 2100.
