The Cost of Climate Change in Europe: New Study Reveals Impacts of Rising Temperatures

How much will climate change cost? That's a good question, and researchers may just have the answer--at least when it comes to Europe. They've found that if no further action is taken and if the global temperature increases by the expected 3.5 degrees Celsius, climate change damages could amount to at least €190 billion, which is about $259 billion.

In order to learn how much climate change might cost in the future, the researchers analyzed the impacts of our changing climate in nine different sectors. These sectors included agriculture, river floods, coasts, tourism, energy, droughts, forest fires, transport infrastructure, and human health. This allowed them to fully assess how much impact climate change will have overall.

In the end, they found that climate change is expensive, which shouldn't be all that surprising. Weather-related extremes could roughly double their average frequency. This means that heat-related deaths could reach about 200,000. In addition, there will be river flood damages and forest fires that may burn southern Europe. Sea-level rise and drought could also cause problems in the future.

"No action is clearly the most expensive solution of all," said Connie Hedegaard, European Commissioner for Climate Action, in a news release. "Why pay for the damages when we can invest in reducing our climate impacts and becoming a competitive low-carbon economy? Taking action and taking a decision in the 2030 climate and energy framework in October, will bring us just there and make Europe ready for the climate against climate change."

The findings don't just show that climate change will be expensive. It also shows that welfare impacts in one region will affect other areas. For example, the welfare loss due to seal level rise in the central Europe North region or the agricultural losses in southern Europe would have a spillover effect on the whole of Europe due to economic links.

The findings reveal the importance of taking action now in order to reduce the cost that climate change might inflict on Europe. If steps can be taken to mitigate warming or to reduce future impacts, then there may be a way to combat financial stress.