Climate change could cost U.S. $2 trillion each year by the end of the century, says White House
Floods, drought, wildfires and hurricanes made worse by climate change could cost the U.S. federal budget about $2 trillion each year by the end of the century, the White House said in an assessment on Monday.
The analysis by the Office of Management and Budget, which administers the federal budget, found that climate change could hit federal revenues with a 7.1% annual loss by the end of the century.
The report also determined that the federal government could spend an additional $25 billion to $128 billion each year on expenditures like coastal disaster relief, flood insurance, crop insurance, healthcare insurance, wildland fire suppression and flooding at federal facilities.
«The fiscal risk of climate change is immense,» Candace Vahlsing, the OMB's associate director for climate, and Danny Yagan, its chief economist, wrote in a blog published on Monday.
«Climate change threatens communities and sectors across the country, including through floods, drought, extreme heat, wildfires, and hurricanes that affect the U.S. economy and the lives of everyday Americans,» they wrote. «Future damages could dwarf current damages if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated.»
The news comes the same day as the U.N. climate science panel'shighly anticipated report, which warned that slashing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels will require greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025.
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