Economic Risks of Climate Change

Climate change threatens the economy of the United States through increased flooding and storm damage, climate-driven changes in crop yields, disruptions in labor productivity, crime, and public health and heat-related strains on energy systems. Combining current data with state-of-the-art climate models, econometric research on human responses to climate, and cutting-edge private sector risk assessment tools, this prospectus crafts a game-changing analysis of the risks of future climate change in specific U.S. regions and sectors.

This work is based on a critically acclaimed independent assessment of climate change's economic risks commissioned by the Risky Business Project. With contributions from Karen Fisher-Vanden (Penn State University), Michael Greenstone (MIT), Geoffrey Heal (Columbia Business School), Michael Oppenheimer (Princeton University), and Nicholas Stern and Bob Ward (Grantham Research Institute), as well as a foreword from the nation's leading voices on environmental action, the prospectus speaks to scientists, researchers, scholars, activists, and policymakers. It depicts the distribution of escalating climate change risk across the country and anticipates its effects on aspects as varied as coastal property and crime. Beautifully illustrated and accessibly written, Economic Risks of Climate Change is an essential tool for helping businesses and governments prepare for the future.