Economists raise alarms as state residents face growing financial strain: 'If we stay on the same trajectory, things are going to get worse'

Researchers from Reed College and the University of Oregon contributed to a new report released by a nonpartisan group of economists and policy experts that estimates the cost of an overheating planet to Oregon residents. They found the cost of the changing climate is nearly $12,000 per year in personal income.

What's happening?

There have been many previous assessments of the costs incurred by an overheating planet, usually on a national or international scale. According to the report's writers, this new report "begins the process of developing evidence-based estimates of the costs to Oregonians."

Oregon had a record-breaking year for wildfires, with over 1.9 million acres burned across the state. Wildfire smoke costs Oregon households around $450 daily because of impacts like canceling planned trips and having to keep children home to minimize their exposure. 

That is one of many economic impacts of extreme weather caused by our warming world. The researchers also considered impacts from extreme heat, worsening air quality, ocean acidification, ocean warming, and lost or damaged ecosystems.

"Oregonians are already feeling the economic effects of climate change, whether that is through the cost of your insurance, or it's the cost of your healthcare or the cost of food at the grocery store," said University of Oregon professor of economics Keaton Miller, per KGW-TV. "Climate change is impacting all of those things."  

"If we stay on the same trajectory, things are going to get worse, not better," Miller emphasized.

Why is this study important?

The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago said the U.S. economy could lose about 1-4% percent of its annual GDP by the end of the century from a warming world's impacts on "effects to mortality, labor and the energy sector alone under a high emissions scenario."

The economists involved with the Oregon report said their goal wasn't to scare anyone but rather to present the costs of our changing climate in ways that will help people understand how they are being impacted. They hope this will lead to local policy action that would help avoid worst-case scenarios.

What's being done about the rising economic impact of a warming world?

"The greenhouse gases that are in the atmosphere are affecting the global economy, and that hits us here at home. It hits us in everything that we buy, and it's going to continue to hit us in the future," Miller told KGW-TV. 

"We are not powerless here — we can prepare for what's coming, we can proactively adapt to climate change, and every effort that we make now will make the future easier."

Investment in clean energy is a crucial key to addressing the rising costs of the changing climate. Transitioning away from dirty energy to cleaner, renewable options like solar and wind will help. We can all be a part of the solution by signing up for community solar and making our next car choice an EV.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.