Study: Global Economy Could Tumble Due To Climate Change
BERKELEY, Calif. (CBS Sacarmento) -- A new study reveals that the world's economy could take a hit from climate change.
According to Tech Times, economists from Stanford University and the University of California Berkeley analyzed World Bank data of 166 countries from 1960 to 2010.
They tracked the relationship between temperature change and productivity levels in those countries and found the best average yearly temperature that matches top productivity levels was 13 degrees Celsius, or 55.4 Fahrenheit.
The researchers also found that a country's gross domestic product is affected by the rise or fall in the average temperature. The economists say that the United States could lose 1 percent of GDP growth if the average temperature rises by 4 degrees Celsius, or 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit. If climate change continues to worsen, the world's economy could plummet by 23 percent by the end of the century. Also, 77 percent of nations will experience per capita income decrease.
"People have long been worried that the effects on people in poor countries would be really negative and we confirmed that. One of the main findings is that rich countries are not isolated. Climate change could reshape the global economy. Rich companies are part of the story and could be impacted in important ways," Marshall Burke, study co-author and assistant professor at Stanford University's Department of Earth System Science, told Tech Times.
The economists said in the study that Canada, Russia, and countries in northern and central Europe could see an increase in productivity with warming temperatures, but countries in the tropics and subtropics would feel the worst effects.
The study was published in the journal Nature on Oct. 21.