Helene and Milton Damage Is Just the Start of the Climate Tab
When we think about the economic damage of climate change, most of us probably think about the physical destruction wrought by mammoth disasters like hurricanes, wildfires and droughts: Bungalows tumbling into the sea. Houses turned to ash. Acres of dead crops. That sort of thing.
But the quieter, longer-term effects of global warming cut even deeper.
Consider western North Carolina. The state’s tab for that could be $53 billion, Governor Roy Cooper has said.
But all of that physical wreckage also means businesses are closed, tourists aren’t visiting, people aren’t working, and few are splurging on luxury goods when many are still struggling just to get drinking water.
That adds up to financial damage that dwarfs the physical one.
Heat and rainfall that were unimaginable at the time of design and construction are causing roofs and HVAC systems to fail, roads and railways to buckle and foundations and plumbing to shift and crack.
Maintenance and repair costs have only begun to soar.
Mark Gongloff 28 oktober 2024
Tillbaka till WoS 28 oktober 2024
https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2024/10/wos-28-oktober-2024.html
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