A 4°C rise in global temperatures would cut global GDP by around 40% by the end of the century, according to a study by Australian researchers.
According to the World Economic Forum, the global cost of climate change damage is estimated to reach between $1.7 and $3.1tn a year by 2050. However, previous studies on the impact of climate change on global GDP has revealed it only has a mild to moderate affect.
These economic models assume that a country’s economy is affected only by weather in that country, and not how flooding, for instance, in other country will affect its food supply.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales’ Institute for Climate Risk and Response (ICRR) decided to address this issue by creating a new model.
Having included the global repercussions of extreme weather in its models, the predicted harm to global GDP was far worse than previously thought.
The analysis immediately revealed that a warm year across the planet causes lower global growth.
The study took...