Climate change will hurt every economy: Report
NEW YORK Climate change will damage the economies of countries whether they are rich or poor, hot or cold by the year 2100, economists said in a new report, dispelling the notion that impoverished, warm countries will suffer the most.
Researchers who examined data from 174 countries over 50 years found that persistent temperature changes above or below a country's historical norm adversely affected economic growth, regardless of how warm a country is.
The United States could see a 10 per cent loss in gross domestic product (GDP) without significant policy change.
"In the UK we had the hottest day (ever) recorded a few days ago and infrastructure came to a halt," said Dr Kamiar Mohaddes, a co-author and a professor of economics at Cambridge University.
"Trains aren't running, people aren't coping, and therefore productivity and economic growth falls."
Research has often focused on short-term devastation to poor, warm countries, but the report suggested that wealth and cooler temperatures are no protection from climate change's economic toll.
If greenhouse gas emissions are not drastically lowered, average global temperatures will increase by 4 deg C by 2100.
That would bring more than a 7 per cent loss in world GDP per capita, said the study published on Monday by the US National Bureau of Economic Research. - REUTERS
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