US: Climate Change Will Cost Billions If No Action

If world leaders do not agree on measures curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the country will face tremendous economic costs by the end of the century, warned a report released on Monday.

If the global temperature is not reduced quickly by two degrees, as recommended by scientists of the world, the total cost would sum up to $180 billion in the 20 economic sectors investigated by the report, entitled “Climate Change in the United States: Benefits of Global Action.”

The costs implied by the effects of climate change – such as the extinction of wildlife, the rise of sea levels, or a more extreme weather such as storms and drought, include health spending, investment in infrastructures like bridges or urban drainage systems. As for the farming sector, it could be affected up to $3 million.

RELATED: No Time to Waste: World Environment Day

President Barack Obama has been urging world leaders to agree on ambitious actions to tackle global warming before a UN Climate Change conference in Paris in December. Although the EPA has not always had the support of environmentalists, under Obama's mandate many measures tackling climate change are expected to work as an argument convincing other nations to make serious commitments in the French capital. The agency will be releasing a set of regulations in August, despite the strong opposition of Republicans and coal industry.

“That’s what we’re going to use to push other countries to join in global climate action,” said Brian Deese, Mr. Obama’s senior climate and energy policy adviser, reported the New York Times.

Last November, an unprecedented report from the UN body IPCC warned that climate change will soon have irreversible effects on the world if no action was taken sharply and soon to reduce the global temperature by two degrees. Addressing global warming is still economically affordable, urged the scientists.