A global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions would prevent nearly 70,000 premature American deaths annually by the end of the century while sparing the country hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of economic losses, according to a major government study on the cost of climate change.
Slowing the carbon build-up in the atmosphere would also prevent severe damage to a wide range of critical ecosystems, from Hawaiian coral reefs that support tourism to shellfish beds off the East Coast, said the report released by the White House on Monday.
The report, a five-year, peer-reviewed analysis that assesses the benefits of alternative strategies for dealing with climate change, concludes that every region of the country could be spared severe economic disruptions that would result if greenhouse gas concentrations continue to soar.
The EPA released a report titled “Climate Change in the United States: Benefits of Global Action” which lays out the costs of not reducing greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming. The report claims cutting emissions would result in billions of dollars in benefits for the U.S. and save thousands of lives every year.
The agency also claims there would be less “extreme weather” if emissions are cut on a global scale. An interesting claim given there is little to no evidence to support the notion that natural disasters are becoming more frequent or intense.
Regardless, the EPA says a global effort to cut emissions would result in about 70,000 fewer people dying from extreme heat and poor air quality in the U.S., less damage from flooding and storm surges on coastal properties and other weather events by 2100.
