According to researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Colorado, the effects of climate change are anticipated to cost us $43 trillion worth of economic damage by the year 2200. To put that number into perspective, this translates to roughly $230 billion each year and $26.5 million each hour, reports the Christian Science Monitor.
WHAT THE MELTING ARCTIC PERMAFROST SPELLS OUT FOR THE ECONOMY
Arctic permafrost can be defined as “soil at or below the freezing point of water 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years.” The frozen soil, which contains organic matter, serves an important role in trapping greenhouse gases below the Earth’s surface. Rising temperatures, however, are beginning to thaw the permafrost, consequently causing it to release gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the air.
According to a letter published in Nature Climate Change, the melting permafrost – currently holding 1,700 gigatons or 1.7 trillion tons of carbon – increases the predicted economic impact of climate change from $326 trillion to $369 trillion by 2200 – a whopping 13% increase. To come to this number, researchers first calculated the rate at which the permafrost might release its gases. Then, based on this estimation, they predicted the cost to mitigate the effects of the additional carbon and methane.
THE PRICE OF CLIMATE CHANGE
But what exactly is going to cost us $369 trillion? The obvious factors include the price of increased air conditioning use, as well as agriculture-related losses. Another thing to take into consideration is climate change’s influence on public health systems, ecosystems and the frequency of natural disasters.
Because melting permafrost comprises a significant chunk of the anticipated economic damage of climate change, focusing on the problem should help mitigate its detrimental effects: “We want to use these models to help us make better decisions—linking scientific and economic models together is a way to help us do that,” Hope said. “We need to estimate how much it will cost if we do nothing, how much it will cost if we do something, and how much we need to spend to cut back greenhouse gases.”
