A report by the World Economic Forum and consulting firm Oliver Wyman says climate change will have severe economic impacts worth trillions of dollars by 2050 and directly and indirectly cause millions of deaths. I predicted it.
what happened?
The paper, published in January, “quantifies the health impacts of climate change, both in terms of the health impacts themselves (mortality and loss of healthy lives) and the economic costs to health systems. ” is the purpose of this.
Based on a moderate scenario, we found that rising temperatures would cause 14.5 million additional deaths and $12.5 trillion in economic losses worldwide over the next 26 years. It would also put a “tremendous strain on global health systems” and cost a battered industry an additional $1.1 trillion to cover treatments for diseases caused by global warming.
“These staggering numbers are actually conservative,” Daniel R. Brooks, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Toronto who was not involved in the study, told Grist.
“The most vulnerable populations, including women, young people, older people, low-income groups, and hard-to-reach communities, will be the most affected by climate-related impacts,” the report said. , Central African and South Asian countries added: They are the most vulnerable because they lack the resources and infrastructure to deal with the problem.
Why are reports important?
The authors identified six weather-related events most affected by climate change and causing the greatest damage to human health and the economy: floods and extreme rainfall, droughts, heat waves, tropical storms, wildfires, and sea level rise. analyzed.
Each event has a profound and direct impact on humans, and its residual effects affect virtually every aspect of life, compounding the initial devastation.
For example, rising sea levels can encourage storms that cause flooding. The resulting catastrophe can cause coastal erosion, soil degradation, destruction of vegetation and crops, and salt water intrusion.
These factors can increase salinity, threaten food security, and expand mosquito habitat, all of which can cause infectious, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases. malnutrition; and mental health problems. Storms and flooding can damage buildings and roads, forcing individuals and communities to evacuate or relocate.
What is being done in response to the report?
This forecast serves as a reminder of the concerted efforts needed to combat Earth's overheating before it is too late.
Barbados, Fiji, Kenya, Monaco, the Netherlands, Peru, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom have proposed a joint draft to UN member states based on solutions outlined by the World Economic Forum.
The study highlights the need to reduce dependence on dirty energy sources, calls on governments to commit resources to identifying climate change needs and setting targets, and urges richer countries and foundations to Encouraged to support developing countries.
“The Holy Grail is prevention” when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, said Rolf Fricker, partner at Oliver Wyman and co-author of the report. “This is the most important thing.”
“Not only are there a lot of challenges that really smart people are working on individually, but they're all interconnected and impact each other,” Brooks said.
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