How might climate change impact the economy over the long term? Some potential impacts include increased mortality, higher demand for electricity and reduced yields for certain crops.
At a recent Dialogue with the Fed presentation, William Emmons, lead economist with the St. Louis Fed’s Center for Household Financial Stability, highlighted research1 that identified geographic “winners and losers” on a county-by-county level across the United States. Looking out to the year 2090, the findings showed that the St. Louis region could expect a significant impact on its economic activity, Emmons said.
“And if you zoom in and look at our region, [the researchers’] estimates are that we could lose the economic equivalent of 5 to 10 percent of GDP as a result of these effects,” he said, noting that impacts would be gradual.
1 Hsiang, Solomon; Kopp, Robert; Jina, Amir; Rising, James; et al. “Estimating Economic Damage from Climate Change in the United States.” Science, June 30, 2017, Vol. 356, Issue 6345, pp. 1362-69.
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