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Major new study says climate change is expected to lead to increasing losses of US infrastructure and real estate and hinder rate of economic growth
Climate change is already hurting the global economy and will cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars every year by the end of the century, unless drastic measures are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. announced Friday an important report from the US government.
"With continued growth in emissions at historical rates, annual losses in some economic sectors are expected to reach hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century – more than the current gross domestic product (GDP) of many US states. "edition of the National Climate Assessment says.
"Without substantial and sustained global mitigation efforts and regional adaptation, climate change is expected to result in increasing losses of US infrastructure and assets and impede the rate of economic growth during this century" adds the statement.
The effects will affect global trade, affecting import and export prices and US companies with overseas operations and supply chains in the United States. foreign, he added.
The report says some of these impacts are already being felt in the United States. Recent climatic and extreme weather events can now be attributed "with growing confidence in man-made warming".
Compiled by more than 300 scientists, the fourth national volume of climate assessment, Volume II, is a report mandated by the Congress, which has more than 1,000 pages.
US President Donald Trump rejected the report last year and this week he seemed to be confusing weather and climate when he tweeted: "Brutal and prolonged blast could break ALL RECORDS – that 's all right. has it gone with global warming? "
Forecast global warming for 2100
Trump has also released the United States from the historic Paris climate agreement, signed in 2015 by more than 190 countries, to limit carbon emissions.
David Easterling, director of the technical support unit of the National Environmental Information Centers of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that "we are the only ones in the world. there had been "no outside interference" in the report.
Scientists have discovered "clear and convincing evidence that the global average temperature is much higher and is rising faster than anything modern civilization has experienced," he told reporters.
"And this warming trend can only be explained by human activities, especially greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere."
Cascading effects
The journalists questioned the timing of this year's publication, which took place on Friday after Thanksgiving, a national holiday where many people travel and shop.
A spokeswoman for NOAA said the report was "out earlier than expected" and was released before two major scientific meetings on climate change in the coming weeks.
The effects of climate change, such as the floods observed in North Carolina during Hurricane Florence in September 2018, will worsen if more drastic measures are taken to reduce carbon emissions, warned a important report from the US government.
At the same time, the report warned that even if significant reductions in harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide and methane were made, the damage could last for years.
"Since many GHGs, particularly carbon dioxide, have been living in the atmosphere for decades or more, many climate effects are expected to continue to change until 2050, even though GHG emissions should stop immediately, "says the report.
Sea level continues to rise and extreme events such as heavy rains and floods continue to multiply worldwide, "which will be reflected in all economic sectors," said Easterling, warning that "the # The US economy would be badly damaged. "
According to the report, it was "very likely that some physical and ecological impacts will be irreversible for thousands of years, while others will be permanent".
The publication is designed to inform decision-makers but makes no specific recommendations on what to do.
"In light of the report's findings, it is essential that federal, provincial and local governments take strong measures to protect US residents by controlling their emissions and helping communities adapt to the now unavoidable climate impacts" said Brenda Ekwurzel, director of climatology at the Union of Concerned Scientists and one of the authors of the study.
Rush Holt, chief executive of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, said the economic warning said that "policy makers can no longer afford to dismiss or ignore damning scientific evidence climate change ".
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