By , CNN,
- The United States experiences an extreme weather event that produces $1 billion worth of damage every three weeks, according to the latest US National Climate Assessment report, which is a significant increase from 40 years ago when such events occurred once every four months on average.
- As of November 8, there have been 25 weather and climate disasters with losses exceeding $1 billion, exceeding last year’s count, and the total cost of extreme weather events is estimated to be $150 billion per year.
- The $150 billion annual cost includes direct impacts such as infrastructure damage, worker injuries, and agricultural losses, and is expected to grow in the near term due to a projected rise in sea levels and temperatures.
- Notable examples of extreme weather events include the devastating wildfires in Hawaii, which cost $5.6 billion, and hurricanes that can result in higher mortgage delinquency rates, lower home prices, and strain government budgets.
- Research has shown that property damage from hurricanes can lead to higher mortgage delinquency rates, and flooding and rising sea levels can lower home prices and property values, as people relocate to areas less prone to flooding.
- Hurricanes can also lead to substantially higher social safety net disbursements, including unemployment insurance and public medical payments, according to research by Tatyana Deryugina, a finance professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- The National Climate Assessment report’s estimate of the total annual cost of climate change in the United States does not take into account loss of life and health care-related costs.
- To put the $150 billion annual cost into perspective, it is a significant amount that can be compared to various other large-scale expenditures and investments.