Global Climate Action:A Win for the U.S.

New EPA report shows how the U.S. benefits from global efforts
to reduce carbon pollution

For years, scientists and economists have studied the costs of climate change impacts to our economy to understand the scale of the challenge we face. And now we know with even more clarity what the U.S. stands to gain from global climate action.

Today, for the first time, EPA is releasing the Climate Change Impacts and Risks Analysis (CIRA) project, a sector-by-sector report that quantifies the benefits to the U.S. of global action to keep total warming below 2 degrees Celsius on average. That’s a threshold science shows will help us avoid the most catastrophic impacts of a changing climate.

Based on rigorously peer-reviewed scientific research, the report examines two possible futures — one in which we do nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and one with global action.

The results are crystal clear: climate action pays.

The stakes are high. Left unchecked, climate change jeopardizes our health, our food supply, our infrastructure and the outdoors we love. But more importantly, this report shows global climate action to cut carbon pollution will save lives, reduce damages and avert costs.

The report also shows it’s not too late to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The sooner we act, the better we can preserve our nation’s resources for our children and grandchildren.

Global climate action will help keep Americans healthy and productive.

We’re feeling the impacts of climate change already, and it threatens Americans’ health.

Worldwide, 2001–2010 was the warmest decade on record,
and the U.S. already faces more extreme temperatures,
storms, droughts, wildfires and floods.

Left unchecked, warmer temperatures from climate change could exacerbate air pollution, leading to more asthma attacks, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory disease. But if we take global action, we can avoid more than 57,000 premature deaths in the U.S. from poor air quality in 2100 alone.

During a 1995 heat wave in Chicago, an estimated 700 people died from the extreme temperatures. If we do nothing, the number of extremely hot days could triple between 2050 and 2100. But with global climate action, we can reduce mortality from extreme heat in the U.S. by 93% in 2100, protecting nearly 12,000 lives.

In the East, we’ve had record snowfall that knocked out whole cities for weeks, and more extreme heat and cold. In the West, we’ve seen less rain, record-low snowfall in the Rockies and severe drought in California.

If we do nothing, those impacts will take a major toll on American workers. By 2100 we estimate over 1.8 billion U.S. labor hours could be lost to extreme temperatures every year. But if we take action, we can reduce the number of lost labor hours, worth approximately $110 billion in wages.

Global action on climate will protect our bridges, cities and homes.

Infrastructure — roads, bridges, power generation — is the backbone of the American economy. But in a world where climate change runs unchecked, it’s at serious risk.

The damages to coastal property from sea level rise and storm surges could potentially cost the U.S. nearly $5 trillion through 2100 — that’s trillion with a “T”, equal to the damage of 30 Hurricane Katrinas.

By adapting to the climate impacts we can’t avoid,
we can prevent more than $4 trillion of those losses.

Without global action, flooding and extreme weather threaten to damage the roads and bridges that carry millions of Americans to work and school every day.

But with action, we could save up to $7.4 billion dollars on road maintenance in the year 2100 alone, and keep up to 2200 bridges from becoming structurally vulnerable.

Global climate action protects our economy.

Climate-related disasters, from drought to hurricanes to Superstorm Sandy, cost the U.S. economy more than $100 billion in 2012 alone — and if we do nothing, those costs will increase.

But global action can change the story.

If we take action, we can prevent 59% of the severe and extreme droughts we could otherwise face and save up to $180 billion from avoided water shortages. This would also protect America’s food security, with benefits in the year 2100 alone more than $10 billion for crop-based agriculture.

In addition to our farmland, we’d also protect the outdoor spaces we treasure for recreation and for our way of life. Climate action would protect up to 7.9 million acres of land from wildfire every year by 2100 — that’s an area nearly the size of Maryland.

The economic benefits of climate action aren’t limited to land, though. If we do nothing, scientists project a 62% decline in coldwater fish habitat for species like trout and salmon by 2100. But with action, we can avoid the loss of 81% of that habitat, preserving an area equal to 360,000 acres.

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. But the CIRA report shows it’s also a compelling call to action.

If we act on climate now, we can protect our health, our infrastructure
and our economy for generations to come.

And no matter who you are or where you come from,
those are values worth protecting.