Droughts, flooding, and superstorms are all in the mix for us if our Earth continues to heat up — but economic catastrophe is also in the cards, claims a new report.
A study published in the journal Nature by scientists from Stanford University and University of California Berkeley has determined that our economy will take a big hit this century, and it’s largely due to temperature changes, according to a Fortune report.
The reason is that researchers found there is a “Goldilocks” temperature where economies tend to function at a high level, and that is about 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius). Anything above or below that penalizes the performance of an economy.
The study examined 166 countries from 1960 through 2010 and looked for correlations in temperatures and gross domestic product (GDP). The data was gathered from the World Bank.
The largest economies in the world tend to be in areas where temperatures are in this range. Once the temperature starts rising, however, it could make a dent in the largest economies in the world.
Scientists think that a rise in temperatures of 7 degrees Fahrenheit would result in a loss of 1 percent of the GDP. That’s a big increase that won’t happen for a while — not until 2100 — but the slow rise will result in wide fluctuations in temperatures in the coming decades that could also have a big impact on productivity.
In all, the world would be made 23 percent poorer due to climate change if world leaders are unable to reduce carbon emissions and bring global warming under control.
The findings were published on Nature’s website, which can be found here.