Lack Of Preparation, Mitigation On Climate Will Produce Enormous Hidden Costs - IPCC

[hatrack]

EDIT
The upcoming report makes these points:

-- As the temperature rises, so will the "social costs," or the OVERALL ECONOMIC BILL caused by every tonne of CO2. "It is virtually certain the real social cost of carbon and other greenhouse gases will rise over time; it is very likely that the rate of increase will be two to four percent per year," says the report. Depending on the scenario of CO2 concentrations, "by 2080, it is likely that 1.1 to 3.2 billion people will be experiencing water scarcity; 200 to 600 million hunger; two to seven million more per year, coastal flooding."

-- A modest rise could open up huge areas of land for AGRICULTURE in North America, Northern Europe and Russia. But sub-Saharan Africa would lose farmland because of less rainfall while yields for wheat in South Asia and for rain-fed rice production in China would also be badly hit. A very high increase (5.5 C, or 9.9 F) would widely damage crop and livestock production. Global cereal prices would rise by 30 percent, according to one study.

-- The biggest potential costs will come from EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS, such as storms, droughts and floods, which are "very likely" -- a 90 percent certitude -- to become more powerful and possibly more frequent too. Their impact will be amplified by a rise in the world's population, which is projected to reach between 8.7 and 9.3 billion by 2030, of which two billion could be slum dwellers whose homes are typically at risk from inundation and landslide. "Costs of major events can range from several percent of annual regional GDP" for large economies to "more than 25 percent in smaller areas that are affected by the events," says the report.

It notes that Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, inflicted total economic costs of more than 100 billion dollars. A British assessment in 2005 suggested that annual weather-related damages to land use and property in Britain could increase by three to nine times by the 2080s.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Climate_Change_Could_Carry_Huge_Hidden_Costs_999.html

[kirby]

1. As long as the costs are HIDDEN, no one cares...

[jpak]

2. Pay now or *really* pay later

carbon tax now....

[jpak]

3. Kick

:kick: