Back

Director's Picks

Climate Change Predicted to Reduce Global Income by 19% by 2050, Study Finds

Summary

Samantha Delouya reports on a new study published in Nature revealing that climate change-induced extreme weather events could lead to a substantial reduction of approximately 19% in global income by 2050. The financial repercussions are expected to impact individuals significantly, with a projected nearly 3-degree increase in global warming within the next century. Despite ongoing climate policies and goals, researchers warn of inevitable short-term financial losses, including damage to property, agriculture, labor productivity, and cognitive ability. The study emphasizes the urgency of immediate actions to mitigate climate change, suggesting that the short-term economic damage already outweighs the cost of addressing the crisis. However, researchers also highlight the potential benefits of adaptation strategies and emphasize the disproportionate impact of climate change on poorer regions, with North America and Europe projected to experience a lower income reduction compared to South Asia and Africa.

discover more

January 8, 2025
Climate Change
Climate Change

New Clark City, a $2.5 billion project in the Philippines, is designed to be a climate-resilient urban hub with plans for green infrastructure, renewable energy, and flood-resista

January 8, 2025
Climate Change
Climate Change

President Biden’s new ban on offshore oil and gas drilling excludes the western Gulf of Mexico, the area responsible for 97% of U.S. offshore oil production. The ban protects the

January 7, 2025

UN Special Rapporteur Elisa Morgera has called for fundamental reforms to the global climate regime, criticizing the current system as ineffective and dominated by misinformation

January 4, 2025
Climate Change
Climate Change

Rising sea levels caused by climate change threaten to severely damage 13 major oil ports globally, including key facilities in Saudi Arabia, the US, China, and the Netherlands. A

January 3, 2025
Climate Change
Climate Change

In a landmark decision, the Montana Supreme Court ruled 6-1 in favor of 16 youth plaintiffs in *Held v. Montana*, affirming their constitutional right to a “clean and healthful en

January 3, 2025
Climate Change
Climate Change

AI-driven weather forecasting models are proving faster, cheaper, and more accurate than traditional numerical methods reliant on expensive supercomputers. These tools leverage ma

January 3, 2025
Energy Justice
Energy Justice

Elon Musk, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President-elect Donald Trump. Tasked with cutting $2 trillion in federal spend

January 2, 2025
Climate Change
Climate Change

Texans are increasingly adopting microgrids as a solution to frequent winter power outages, driven by extreme weather events and grid reliability concerns. Unlike generators, micr

January 2, 2025
Climate Change
Climate Change

Chicago’s municipal buildings, including airports and water treatment plants, now run entirely on renewable energy, powered by the new Double Black Diamond Solar Farm in Illinois.

January 1, 2025
Climate Change
Climate Change

In Mexico, extreme heat disproportionately affects young people, with workers aged 18–34 and children under 5 facing the highest heat-related mortality rates. A study analyzing 73

January 1, 2025

Thermal energy networks, or neighborhood-wide ground-source heat pump systems, are emerging as a revolutionary approach to decarbonizing heating and cooling. These systems use int

December 30, 2024
Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice

Texas’s rapid population growth and infrastructure demands pose challenges for equitable development. With $104 billion allocated in the 2025 United Transportation Program, the Te

December 27, 2024

New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Climate Change Superfund Act, requiring fossil fuel companies to pay $75 billion over 25 years for climate damage repair and resilience p

December 27, 2024

Battery storage for clean energy surged in 2024, with U.S. capacity increasing by 71% to 24 gigawatt-hours. Batteries help reduce reliance on polluting "peaker" plants by storing

December 26, 2024
Climate Change
Climate Change

Brooklyn homeowners in historically disinvested neighborhoods are benefitting from EnergyFit, a program retrofitting two- and three-family homes with energy-efficient upgrades.