Risky Business Report Finds Businesses and Infrastructure in U.S. and Florida Face Significant Economic Risks From Climate Change

First-Ever Risk Analysis Quantifies Potential for Widespread Economic Disruptions

The American economy will face significant and widespread disruptions from climate change unless U.S. businesses and policymakers take immediate action to reduce climate risk, according to a new report released today. The report, “Risky Business: The Economic Risks of Climate Change in the United States,” analyzes economic and climate impact data at the county, state, and regional level, and finds that communities, industries, and properties across the U.S. face profound risks from climate change.

The report, a product of the Risky Business Project, emphasizes that climate impacts differ by scale and type across the country. Focusing on higher temps and sea level rise, the report finds that Florida faces significant climate-related risks in the coming decades.

The report identifies these specific impacts as likely to hit the Sunshine State in the next five to 25 years:

Average summer temps could rise an additional 1.3 to 2.5º F;

The state could experience between 18 and 32 days over 95º F per year (currently, FL averages just 7 days over 95º F per year);

Sea level rise alone could account for an additional $ 753 million to $ 1.3 billion more in coastal flooding every year, for a total annual cost of up $ 14 billion.

Looking at the end of the century, likely impacts include:

More intense and long-lasting heat could drive up commercial and residential energy demand 9.6 to 21.6%;

Costs due to sea level rise combined with more intense hurricane activity could bring coastal storm costs up to $ 38.7 to 50.1 billion annually.

On the current path, between $ 66 and $ 106 billion worth of existing coastal property nationally will likely be below sea level nationwide by 2050, growing to $ 238 to $ 507 billion by 2100.

The authors note property losses from sea-level rise will disproportionately affect the Southeast and Atlantic coasts, where rise is expected to be higher and the losses far greater than other coastal areas. Thirty-three percent of the Southeast’s GDP comes from coastal counties, making the region’s economy especially vulnerable.

“Damages from storms, flooding, and heat waves are already costing local economies billions of dollars – we saw that firsthand in New York City with Hurricane Sandy,” said Risky Business co-chair Michael R. Bloomberg. “With the oceans rising and the climate changing, the Risky Business report details the costs of inaction in ways that are easy to understand in dollars and cents — and impossible to ignore.”

Yet the Southeast will likely be hardest hit by heat, the authors write. Over the past thirty years, the average Southeastern resident experienced about 9 days per year at 95°F or above. On current emissions path, he/she will likely experience an additional 17 to 53 additional extremely hot days per year by mid-century and an additional 47 to 134 days per year by the end of the century. That’s one and a half to three additional months of extreme heat each year.

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For more regional impacts, click here. To read statements from the full Risky Business Project Risk Committee, click here.

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The Risky Business Project is a joint, non-partisan initiative of former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr.; Mayor of New York City from 2002-2013 Michael R. Bloomberg; and Thomas P. Steyer, former Senior Managing Member of Farallon Capital Management. They were joined by members of a “Risk Committee” who helped shape the research and reviewed the report findings.