Costs
Estimating damage costs from global warming (climate change) is difficult. Estimated $ values cover a wide spectrum, depending on many assumptions, as well as on which effects are examined, over how long, for which geographical area, compounded by further uncertainties about how much carbon humans will emit how fast, positive feedbacks (e.g., less reflected sunlight when ice melts, more carbon emitted by thawing permafrost), and - most of all - what the warming effects will be for how much emissions, with what kind of lags in warming. Assumptions about adaptation by farmers are a key factor. Another key assumption is the discount rate.
2020-2024 Articles
Climate Price Tag to Hit $38 Trillion per Year 0424
Why Americans Pay So Much More than Anyone Else for Weather Disasters 0324
Nearly Half of U.S. Homes Face Severe Threat from Climate Change 0324
Australia Warns of Critical Financial Risks from Climate Change 0324
US, Philippines Pay Highest Economic Price for Climate-Fueled Weather 0224
Climate Change to Slash African GDP by 7.1% and Revenue from Crops by 30% - 0224
Drop in Panama Canal Traffic from Severe Drought Could Cost Up to $700 Million 0124
4 Things to Know about EPA’s Updated Social Cost of Carbon 0124
U.S. Hit by Record Number of High-Cost Disasters in 2023 - 0124
Natural Disasters Led to $250 Billion in Global Losses Last Year 0124
Panama Canal Will Slash Ship Crossings Again due to Drought 1023
Texas Economy Slows as Summers Get Hotter - Dallas Fed Economists 1023
Sea Level Rise Projected to Drain Florida’s Financial Future 1023
Hotter Summers Mean More Inflation Pressure - Europe Central Bank 1023
Climate Crisis Costs $16 Million per Hour in Extreme Weather Damage 1023 - $140 billion per year over 20 years. Does not include data from most low-income countries, nor crop effects. 2/3 of damage is in lives lost, 1/3 in damage to property and other assets. 7-fold increase in losses since 1970s.
Climate Destruction Fuels Growing Sector of the US Economy 1023 - Repair costs add to GDP, but destruction costs do not subtract from it.
Extending Australia’s Biggest Coal Plant Life Cost $1.7 Billion in Damages a Year 0923
Hurricane Idalia Could Become 2023’s Costliest US Climate Disaster Yet 0823
Economic Toll from Maui Fires Estimated as High as $6 Billion 0823
University of Chicago Study Exposes Huge Cost of Emissions 0823
Climate Change Hits the Rhine, Europe’s Key Trade Route, Risks $99 Billion 0723 - Need to re-do barges, to carry more and lighter loads, as river level falls. Also switch to rail and road transport, as well as moving operations to other locations.
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Extreme Heat Is Endangering America's Workers—and Its Economy 0823
Biden Says Extreme Heat Costing US $100 Billion Annually 0723
Extreme Heat Threatens Europe's $2 Trillion Travel Industry 0723
Scorching Heat Inflicts $100 Billion Productivity Drain on American Businesses 0723
Extreme Heat Will Drive Up US Health Care Costs by $1 Billion Each Summer 0723
Domestic Oil & Gas Production Led to $77 Billion a Year in Health Impacts 0723
Canada Offers Lesson in the Economic Toll of Climate Change 0723
What Climate Change Means for US Federal Debt 0623
Rich, High-CO2 Emitting Nations Could Pay $170 Trillion in Climate Reparations 0623
Climate Change Is Exacerbating Inflation Worldwide 0523
El Niños Cause Trillions in Lost Economic Growth 0523
Canada Forest Fires Are Costly Climate Disaster Missing from Public Accounts 0523
Fossil Fuel Firms Owe Climate Reparations of $209 Billion a Year, Says Study 0523
Amazon Rainforest Damage Could Cost Brazil $184 Billion - World Bank 0523
Natural Disasters Caused $313 Billion Economic Loss in 2022 - 0123
A $24 Billion Wave of Climate Losses Faces Meat and Dairy Firms 0323
In a 1st, Coal Company Agrees to Use Social Cost of Carbon 0323
In Fraud, Insurers Slashed Hurricane Ian Payouts Far below Damage Estimates 0323
The Business Case for Reversing Extinction 0323
Why EPA’s Huge Social Cost of Carbon Might Fail to Halt CO2 Emissions 0323
Climate Change Risks Costing Germany Up to €900 Billion by 2050 - 0323
How Climate Change Is Making Cotton Goods More Expensive 0223
Costs Could Rise Even More in 2023. 1,000s of CEOs Blame Climate Change. 0223
US Climate Disasters Racked Up $165 Billion in Damage in 2022 - 0123
Extreme Weather Spread in 2022, with $270 Billion in Losses, $120 Billion Insured 0123
Storms, Floods and Fires Caused $260 Billion in Losses in 2022 - 1222
The Tricky Business of Putting a Dollar Value on a Human Life 1222
Canada's Economy Seen Taking 5.8% Hit on Climate Change by 2100 - 1122
‘We Have No Dry Land Left’ - Impact of Pakistan Floods to Be Felt for Years 1022
Biodiversity Loss May Push Developing World Closer to Default 0922
Moody’s Has a $1.9 Trillion Warning over Biodiversity 0922
As Floods Subside, Pakistan’s Economy Is on a Knife-Edge 0922
The World Has a $1 Trillion La Niña Problem 0922
Climate Change Could Worsen Supply Chain Turmoil 0922
European Power Prices Shatter Records, as Energy Crisis Intensifies 0822
Drought Hurts China’s Economy, as Central Bank Cuts Rates 0822
Climate Change Could Push Flood Damage to $3 Billion a Year in Western U.S. 0822
European Power Prices Smash Records, in Another Inflation Blow 0822
Drought Hurts China’s Economy, as Central Bank Cuts Rates 0822
Extreme Heat Is Slamming the World's 3 Biggest Economies All at Once 0822 - It reduces China’s forecast GDP growth by 2.7% and Germany’s by 0.4%. In California, USA, 50% of farmers said they had to remove trees and multi-year crops due to drought.
Economic Damage from Heat Waves and Drought Dwarfs Europe’s Energy Crisis 0822
Worsening Drought Drives California Water Prices to All-Time High 0822
Extreme Weather Caused $65 Billion in Global Losses in 1st Half of 2022 - 0722
Climate Change Is Killing People and Taking Trillions of Dollars 0722
Deaths, Costs of Climate-Linked Disasters May Be Grossly Undercounted 0622
Climate Change Erased 1/5 of Exposed Nations’ Growth Potential 0622
Deloitte Research Reveals Inaction on Climate Change Could Cost the World’s Economy US$178 trillion by 2070 - 0522 - take1
Climate Inaction Could Cost the World $178 Trillion 0522 - take 2
Climate Change Boosted Cost of Japan Storm by $4 Billion 0522
Record Wildfires Threaten to Wreak $200 Billion in Global Damage 0522
Poor Nations Face 4 Times More Climate Change Risk, S&P Warns 0422
Climate Crisis Could Cost US $2 Trillion a Year by 2100, White House Warns 0422
Global Losses from Catastrophes Reached $270 Billion in 2021 - 0322 That’s $7-8 per tonne of CO2 emitted.
McKinsey Pegs the Price Tag of a Livable Climate at $9.2 Trillion a Year 0122
Climate Change Fueled 3rd Costliest Losses Ever in 2021, under Half Was Insured 0122
Lumber Prices Are off the Rails Again. Blame Climate Change. 0122 - Blame pine bark beetles for lots more forest fires in British Columbia, the source of most building lumber for the US.
US Hit by 20 Separate $ Billion Climate Disasters in 2021 - NOAA 0122
German Floods Cost a Record $40 Billion, Munich Re Estimates 0122
Adapting to Climate Change Will Only Get More Expensive 1221
U.S. Businesses Could Face $13.5 Billion from Flood Damage Next Year 1221
Climate Change Will Cost Ontario Billions, Fiscal Watchdog Warns 1221
Global Economy Can Grow if World Warms Less than 1.5°C - 1121
Climate Change Refugee Crisis Coming – Turkey’s Erdogan 0921
We’ve Been Radically Underestimating the True Cost of Our Carbon Footprint 0921 - Most of all, earlier studies have not used the cost of human mortality, including the US government’s Social Cost of Carbon. Second, the discount rate, based on financial studies of time preference is too high, since it undervalues future generations, who cannot chime in, at least not as well. The discount rate is a moral choice more than a financial choice.
Climate-Driven Extreme Heat Threatens $500 Billion a Year in U.S. Costs by 2050 - 0921
By Acting on Climate Change, India Can Gain $11 Trillion in Economic Value by 2070 - 0821
Reducing Carbon Emissions & Air Pollution Benefits the Global Economy 0821 - % GNP loss for countries per GT CO2
The Costs of Climate Tipping Points & How They Could Compound One Another 0821
3.5 Americans Create Enough Carbon Emissions to Kill 1 Person 0721 - 4,434 metric tonnes of CO2 yields 1 person dying this century from increased temperature. 904 deaths from operating a tyoical US coal power plant for 1 year. Eliminating planet-heating emissions by 2050 would save an expected 74 million lives around the world this century. It would take 3.5 Americans, 25 Brazilians or 146 Nigerians to kill 1 person. - take 1. See take 2 below in the “Refugees” section.
Climate Crisis to Shrink G7 Economies Twice as Much as Covid-19 - 0621
Climate Change Could Cut World Economy $23 Trillion in 2050, Swiss Re Warns 0421
Record Number of Billion-Dollar Disasters Struck the U.S. in 2020 - 0121
Large Variation in Daily Temperatures Linked to Lower Economic Growth 0221
Rising Heat and Snow-Bare Peaks Chill Nepal's Mountain Economy 0221
Extreme Weather Causes Huge Losses in 2020 - 1220
Report Tallies the Costs of Climate Change on NC Economy, Health 1220
50 Years of Climate Inaction Will Cost Australia $3.4 Trillion and 880,000 Jobs 1120
Climate Change Poses ‘Profound Threat' to Global Growth - IMF Chief 1020
Stronger Action on Climate Change Would Benefit the Economy 0420 - Inaction costs $150-792 trillion by 2100. That’s 2-9 times Gross World Product.
Climate Impacts 'to Cost World $7.9 Trillion' by 2050 - 0420
2019 Articles and earlier
Climate Events Have Cost the US More than $500 Billion over the Last 5 Years 1119
The Price Tag for Climate Change Is in the Trillions 1119
Climate Change Could Cost the U.S. Up to 10.5% of Its GDP by 2100 - 0819
Moody’s Analytics Says 2°C Climate Change Could Cost $69 Trillion by 2100 - 0719
Sea Level Rise Could Cost Florida $76 Billion, US $400 Billion by 2040 - 0719
Climate Change Could Slash $571 Billion from Australia’s Property Values 0519
The Green New Deal Costs Less than Doing Nothing 0519
The Next Financial Crisis Could Be Caused by Climate Change 0119
Hurricane Michael Cost Tyndall AFB $5 Billion, One of 2018's Weather Disasters 1218
Tackle Climate or Face Financial Crash, Say World's Biggest Investors 1218
Climate Change Could Cost the U.S. $515 Billion a Year by 2100 - 1218
Peak CO2 Pollution by 2050, Not 2100+, Saves $208+ Billion a Year - 4th NCA 1118
Zinke Says Northern California Fire Costs Likely in Billions 1118
4th US Climate Assessment Says Damage Is ‘Intensifying across the Country’ 1118 - This includes $155 billion a year in lost labor productivity by 2100, $141 billion a year from deaths from heat, and $118 billion a year in coastal property damages.
Climate Change to Cost US More in Economic Damage than All but One Nation 0918 - $48 / tonne of CO2 local damage in US (compare to $42 social cost of carbon under Obama), $86 in India, less elsewhere, for a total of $417 / ton. Negative in Russia (Siberia) and some of Canada and Scandinavia, at least for a while. This does not include potential catastrophic events, short-term costs of adaptation, biodiversity loss, or the longer-term impacts of sea level rise and ocean acidification.
Fighting Climate Change Could Boost the Global Economy by $26 Trillion 0918
Most Economic Forecasts Have a Big Blind Spot - Climate Change 0818
Amid Fires and Hurricanes, Price of Climate Change Begins to Hit Home 0818
Cost of Coastal Flooding in Europe Could Reach $1 Trillion Annually by 2100 - 0818
Toxic ‘Red Tide' Algae Bloom Is Killing Florida Wildlife and Menacing Tourism 0818
Adding Up the Cost of Climate Change in Lost Lives 0818
Poor Countries Face $168 Billion Interest Bill due to Climate Change 0718
We Are Very Likely Underestimating the Economic Risks of Climate Change 0618
tipping points; use renewables & storage costs from several years ago, underestimate energy efficiency, omit social benefits, don’t adjust well for uncertainties and “fat tails”, need steeper damage function (e.g., 50% GNP loss for 6°C).
Reducing Warming from 2° to 1.5°C Will Save World $30 Trillion in Damages 0518
Climate Impacts of the Kinder Morgan Pipeline Could Cost Up to $8.7 Billion 0518
$306 Billion in 1 Year - US Bill for Natural Disasters Smashes Record 0118
2017 Set a Record for Losses From Natural Disasters. It Could Get Worse. 0118
California Department of Insurance Estimates Wildfires Losses at $1.05 Billion 1017
$300 Billion Early Estimate for Climate Change Costs of Hurricanes, Fires 0917
Hidden Costs of Climate Change Running 100s of Billions a Year 0917
Texas Sees Harvey’s Damage at Up to $180 Billion 0917
Rising Temperatures Cut Economic Output 0917
Climate Change Costs India $10 Billion Every Year - Government 0817
How Extreme Could Temperatures Become in Texas? 0817
How Climate Change Impacts Congressional Districts Over Next 80 Years 0717
Climate Change in the U.S. Could Help the Rich and Hurt the Poor 0617
The Great Barrier Reef Is a Treasure Worth $42 Billion 0617
Urban ‘Heat Islands' Seen Doubling City Costs for Climate Change 0517
Ignoring the Worst Case Scenario Comes with a Hefty Price Tag 0317
During Sandy, Wetlands Averted US $625 Million in Damages 1116
World Economy Will Lose $12 Trillion unless Greenhouse Gases Are Tackled 1116
Hidden Cost of Death Is in the Air 0916 - Air pollution costs China 10% of GDP, India 8% - World Bank
Climate Change Could Cost Millennials $ Trillions in Lifetime Income 0816
Soaring Temperatures Will Make It Too Hot to Work, Cost Over $2 Trillion by 2030 - 0716
Flooding Costs Will Soar in a Warming World, Economic Analysts Say 0616
Climate Change Will Wipe $2.5 Trillion off Global Financial Assets 0416
Clean Energy Is Win-Win for the US 0316 - Clean energy will save $250 billion a year in the US, by 2030, compared to a base case heavy on fossil fuels.
As Sea Levels Rise, Economic Damage Piles Up Even Faster 0216
Farm Report - Montana to Lose Millions to Climate Change 0216
Balmy Winter Hits French Ski Workers in Wallet 1215
Climate Change Hits Australia’s Economy for $8 Billion 1115
Climate Change Could Push 100+ Million Into Extreme Poverty by 2030 - World Bank 1115
The Warmer It Gets, the More World Economy Hurts 1015
Scientists Calculate the Dramatic Economic Cost of a Warming Arctic 0915
South Asia at Front Lines of Mounting Climate Costs - Asian Development Bank 0915
Billions of Dollars of Pacific Infrastructure at Risk from Climate Change 0715
Inaction on Climate Change Would Cost Billions, Major EPA Study Finds 0615
Water Insecurity Costs Global Economy Billions a Year 0415
China Official Warns of Huge Impact from Climate Change 0315
Australia’s CSIRO Warns of '$1 Trillion' Natural Disasters Exposure 1214
Climate Change Costs to Poor Underestimated - UN 1214
Research Finds Looming $1 Trillion a Year Costs of Ocean Acidification 1014
Acid Damage to Coral Reefs Could Cost $1 Trillion 1014 - an earlier perspective on the same report as above
Health Benefits of Reducing Emissions Outweigh Costs Involved 0814
Climate Change Could Slash 8.7% from India’s GDP by 2100 - 0814
Climate Costs 'May Prove Much Higher’ 0414
Costs of Climate Change Steep, But Tough to Tally 0314
'Social Cost' of Carbon Emissions Rising, But Are Still Underestimated 0214
Costs of Natural Disasters in China Surge to $69 Billion 0214
Caribbean Climate In Crisis 0214
Climate, GDP Link in Pacific Islands 1213
Climate Change Will Pose Rising Burden on U.S. Taxpayer 1113
Global Warming Threatens Pacific Economies 1113
Warming Report Sees Violent, Sicker, Poorer Future 1113
We Need Climate-Change Risk Assessment 1013
The Cost of Climate Change 0913 - % of GNP, US emphasis
Huge Arctic Methane Belch Could Cost Us $60 Trillion 0713
Flood Insurance Changes Run Into Resistance 0713
Global Warming's Terrifying New Math 0613
Who's Paying the Price for Global Warming? Taxpayers! 0513
Caribbean Cost of Inaction 0513
US Dominated Global Disaster Losses In 2012 0413
Climate Disasters Threaten US Budget 1212
Climate Change Already Costs $1.2 Trillion a Year - DARA 1112 - press release; ($695 B from climate, rest from air pollution)
Worsening Weather Battering Bottom Line 1012
Climate Impacts Cost $1.2 Trillion a Year 0912 - press summary of DARA report, see above
Poorer Countries’ Economies Are Harmed by Hotter Temperatures 0812
Drought Strains US Oil Production 0712
Insurers Cut Coverage with More Weather Extremes 0412
How Much It Will Cost to Save Pakistan's Economy’s Foundation 0312
Growing Losses Make Insurers Allies in the Climate Fight 1111
Services of Coral Reefs, Forests Worth Trillions 1109
Climate Change Costs Poor Over $100 Billion per Year to Adapt - World Bank 0909
Real Climate Change Costs Could Triple Early Estimates 0809
Climate Change in the US - the Prohibitive Costs of Inaction - UCS 0809
Carbon Cap & Trade Costs of Action in US - CBO 0609 - PDF, 16 pp. $175 per Household
US Inaction Could Cost $3.8 Trillion per Year by 2100 - 0506
2013 Edition
2010 Edition
Microwave Oven Rule Shows Obama’s Climate Policies 0613 Social Cost of Carbon study is available on Overviews page.
($2007 per ton of CO2 emitted)
Cost of Disasters, 2012 Back to 1970 - Swiss Re 0413 - PDF, 44 pp
The losses add up to about $60 billion in insured US disaster losses in 2012. Corn Belt Drought losses not all tallied yet
2012 Insured losses were $US 77 billion, 3rd behind 2011 ($126 B) and 2005 (> $100 B).
DARA’s estimated worldwide damages from climate change are in bilions of US $. World total is $4.345 trillion in 2030.
Circled figures below 2010 and 2030, from left to right, are for Developing Countries Low Emitters, Developing High Emitters, Developed, and Other Industrialized.
Climate Change to Cost 19% of World GDP by 2030 - 0909 - PDF, 164 pp. emphasizes adaptation costs.
One of many examples is below.
US Damages to Cost Over $1.9 Trillion a Year by 2100 - Ackerman & Stanton (NRDC) 0508 - PDF, 42 pp
Water costs (esp. for agriculture and esp. in the West, mostly for desalination and recycling water) cope with drought and groundwater depletion. Real estate losses are from sea level rise (45 inches by 2100). Energy costs include increased cooling requirements, higher transmission thermal losses, and curtailed power production due to heat & drought. Other impacts (food losses, health, etc.) not included.
$74 Trillion Cost of Climate Inaction - Watkiss 0905 - PDF, 88 pp, modeling by Chris Hope
Estimated costs are based on FUND and PAGE Monte Carlo simulations. Such simulations use many scenarios, based on multiple values (usually 2-5) for each of several (usually 5-20) key inputs.
A2 scenario, below, is "Business as Usual".
Cline's $ US Damage Estimate from 1990.xls
William R. Cline’s 1992 estimate of damages in the US alone (his Table 3.4) from many of the same categories addressed by DARA, Ackerman & Stanton, and others. (from The Economics of Global Warming. Institute for International Economics, Washington DC, June 1992. ISBN 0-88132-150-8)
Note that the estimate is just for the US, not the world, as the DARA, Watkiss and "Climate Change to Cost 19% of World GDP by 2030 - 0909" estimates are. Cline’s estimate is more comparable to Ackerman and Stanton’s - also for the US, but in 1990$ instead of 2006$.
Cline’s estimated $61 billion in damages for 2.5°C warming may correspond to somewhere between the 2050 and 2075 damage estimates from Ackerman and Stanton. Thus, Cline's are a good bit lower, even though A & S examined only 4 sectors. Cline’s estimate for those 4 sectors alone was about $60 billion in 2006$. In retrospect, given the costs of recent US drought and hurricane damages, Cline’s estimates seem low.
Section Map: Costs, Wars, Migrate +