Climate Change Could Cut World Economy by $23 Trillion in 2050, Insurance Giant Warns
Poor nations would be particularly hard hit, but few would escape, Swiss Re said. The findings could influence how the industry prices insurance and invests its mammoth portfolios.
Flooding in Jakarta, Indonesia, after torrential rains in February. An analysis by Swiss Re found that a “severe case” of temperature gains would shrink the economy of Indonesia by 40 percent.Credit.Dita Alangkara/Associated Press
April 22, 2021, 4:00 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON Rising temperatures are likely to reduce global wealth significantly by 2050, as crop yields fall, disease spreads and rising seas consume coastal cities, a major insurance company warned Thursday, highlighting the consequences if the world fails to quickly slow the use of fossil fuels.
After accident, patient crashes into $700,000 bill for spine surgery
Mark Gottlieb s life changed in an instant when another driver crashed into his car, damaging four vertebrae in his upper spine and smashing six teeth.
In the months following that January 2019 crash, Gottlieb got the teeth crowned and, for debilitating neck pain, tried injections, chiropractic care and physical therapy. The treatments were all covered by his car insurance.
New Jersey law, as in 12 other states, requires drivers to buy personal injury protection, or PIP, coverage to pay medical expenses. Gottlieb had the maximum: $250,000.
Unfortunately, Gottlieb s pain persisted. Nothing was working. The only other thing was surgery, he said.
Erica Seryhm Lee for KHN
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toggle caption Erica Seryhm Lee for KHN
A car accident in 2019 smashed six of Mark Gottlieb s teeth and severely damaged four vertebrae. The spinal surgery he needed as a result led to medical bills that exhausted the personal injury coverage in his auto insurance. Erica Seryhm Lee for KHN
Mark Gottlieb s life changed in an instant when another driver crashed into his car at an intersection in Hackensack, N.J., damaging four vertebrae in his upper spine and smashing six teeth.
In the months following that January 2019 crash, Gottlieb got the teeth crowned and, for debilitating neck pain, tried injections, chiropractic care and physical therapy. The treatments were all covered by his car insurance.
Rising temperatures are likely to reduce global wealth significantly by 2050, as crop yields fall, disease spreads and rising seas consume coastal cities, a major insurance company warned Thursday, highlighting the consequences if the world fails to quickly slow the use of fossil fuels. The effects of climate change can be expected to shave 11 percent to 14 percent off global economic output by 2050 compared with growth levels without climate change, according to a report from Swiss Re, one of the world’s largest providers of insurance to other insurance companies. That amounts to as much as $23 trillion in reduced annual global economic output worldwide as a result of climate change.
World economy faces $30trn climate hit: Swiss Re afr.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from afr.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.