A delivery driver rests in the shade during the heat on June 21, 2024 in Philadelphia.
Joseph Lamberti/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Many Americans believe they will not be affected by global warming. But climate change is Have it already Experts say this has had widespread negative impacts on household finances.
To give a few examples: Insurance companies Increase premiums Rising losses from natural disasters are a factor for homeowners in many states across the country. Extreme weather and flooding increase price Something for everyone in the grocery store. Wildfire smoke and heat waves like now Cover a large area Jobs in the U.S. pay less for many workers.
Not to mention the potentially more obvious costs, e.g. Rebuild or relocate Following hurricanes, floods or wildfires, these disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity.
Americans born in 2024 Payment can be expected According to a recent study by the consultancy ICF, they will lose approximately $500,000 over their lifetime due to the financial impact of climate change.
“Climate change is already affecting us where it hurts, and of course there will be more in the future,” said Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School.
He added that there were “countless ways” to have adverse financial impact.
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However, according to one study, by 2024, only 55% of Americans believe that global warming will cause “at least some harm to them.” joint report Published Monday by Stanford University and Resources for the Future.
The study found that this proportion was down 8 percentage points from the all-time high of 63% observed in 2010.
Report co-author Jon Krosnick, director of the Political Psychology Research Group at Stanford University, said survey respondents may have considered the physical impact more than the economic impact when answering the survey questions.
When it comes to the financial impact, however, “I think you could say the right answer (for people) is, ‘This has hurt me,'” Krosnick said.
Economic impact ‘increasingly adverse’
On July 11, 2024, people stood outside a grocery store in the Bronx, New York, during a summer heat wave.
Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images
weather related disasters leading to united states According to the Fifth National Climate Assessment, a report that the federal government releases every four to five years summarizing the latest knowledge on climate science, it causes “direct” losses of at least $150 billion each year. (Latest version published in 2023.)
The report said that with each degree of temperature rise, the impact on the economy would be “increasingly detrimental.” For example, economic losses from an additional 2°F of temperature increase are expected to be more than double those of an additional 1°F.
Financial accounting only deals with “direct” rather than indirect effects.
Climate change is already impacting our health, and there will certainly be more impacts in the future.
Gernot Wagner
Columbia Business School Climate Economist
Extreme heat reduces worker productivity
Many of the impacts may be unpredictable, Wagner added.
For example, in addition to its negative impact on human health, wildfire smoke reduces incomes for workers in sectors such as manufacturing, crop production, utilities, health care, real estate, administration and transportation, according to one report. Study in 2022 Developed by economists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Oregon. For example, some of these effects may be due to absenteeism.
Economists found that between 2007 and 2019, the average worker lost income totaling $125 billion annually.
Last year, Canadian wildfire smoke drifted into the United States, creating an orange haze over New York City, which was important to workers in places like New York City where they might not expect it. On at least one day during this period, the city was rated The world’s worst air pollution.
“Five years ago, no one’s climate impact bingo card included that particular entry,” Wagner said.
Workers in the afternoon heat on July 10, 2024 in Baker, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Wagner’s own research shows that extreme heat can cause labor productivity to plummet, leading to lower incomes.
He found that workers lose about 2 percent of their weekly wages every day the temperature exceeds 90 degrees Fahrenheit. For the average person, every day over 90 degrees equates to about a $30 pay cut — which can have extremely serious consequences for people who live in certain places like phoenixHe said.
June 2024 is 13th consecutive month Global temperatures are breaking records.
How global warming and inflation intersect
Research shows that climate change can also increase inflation—a dynamic known as “climate inflation.”
Projected climate warming exacerbating global inflation According to a recent study by researchers from the European Central Bank and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the decline will average between 0.3 and 1.2 percentage points per year until 2035.
“That’s huge,” Wagner said, noting that more than half of Americans annual inflation target (about 2% per year) may simply be due to climate effects, he said.
He added that so-called climate inflation is partly due to the impact on grocery prices: for example, if extreme weather causes crop failures such as avocados, corn, rice, corn or wheat, triggering a spike in global prices.
