Our Earth has endured substantial harm owing to the climate crisis, a crisis propelled by human-induced global warming. The dire repercussions of this crisis exhibit no indications of relenting. As per a recent investigation, the Climate Crisis Costing $16 Million an Hour.
The study is the first to provide a global calculation of the rising costs directly attributable to human-induced global warming. It is a groundbreaking analysis in many ways. Frequent and intense storms, floods, heatwaves, and droughts have costed lives of so many. Professor Ilan Noy and Rebecca Newman from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand conducted this study in an effort to estimate the financial cost of the mounting climate crisis.
The findings from this research are deeply concerning. It uncovers that from 2000 to 2019, the yearly average cost of extreme weather events amounted to approximately $140 billion. For instance, the most recent information from 2022 shows that the price reached an astounding 0 billion. This climate crisis is not only costing hefty amount of money, but it also seems to be increasing.
The researchers combined data on the worsening of extreme weather events as a result of global warming with economic data on the resulting losses to arrive at these estimates. The outcomes are shocking and highlight the severity of the crisis the world is in. Since the past two decades 1.2 billion people have been impacted by weather concerns.
Equally alarming is how The Climate Crisis costs were broken down. Two-thirds of the total can be related to the lives lost, and the final third is connected with the devastation of property and other assets. Two-thirds of climate costs were attributable to storms, which included the infamous Hurricane Harvey and Cyclone Nargis. Floods and droughts added up to 10% of the total cost, while heatwaves contributed 16%.
The results of this study have broad repercussions. The researchers are confident that their approaches can be used to determine the necessary funding for a loss and damage fund that will be established at the UN climate summit in 2022. Insights from this study could be used to pinpoint the precise climate costs of individual disasters, accelerating the delivery of crucial funds.
Let’s not forget that the whopping $140 billion annual figure is truly eye-opening. Additionally, in comparison to the typical estimations of climate change expenses, which frequently depend on computerized models, it is evident that we may have been undervaluing the true effect of climate change. Professor Ilan Noy highlights that the harm caused by severe weather occurrences is considerably underestimated due to the incomplete data presently accessible.
This study took into consideration thousands of “attribution” studies. It say the past extreme weather events are a result of global warming. The researchers have arrived at their estimates by applying these fractions to information from the International Disaster Database. It keeps track of disasters involving sizable loss of life or property.
Some years, in particular, left a profound mark on the cost chart. For instance, in 2003, Europe endured a catastrophic heatwave that pushed expenses to the higher end of the scale. Similarly, the year 2008 witnessed the devastating impact of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. In 2010, a drought brought hardship to Somalia, and Russia grappled with a scorching heatwave. When hurricanes struck the United States in 2005 and 2017, the economic toll soared, especially in regions where real estate values are high.