Nick Hedley | Climate change is pushing up your grocery and insurance bills | Business - News24
Nick Hedley | Climate change is pushing up your grocery and insurance bills | Business
Extreme weather events – floods, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and hailstorms – are happening more frequently and growing in intensity. And there's no doubt that Africa's food system is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather, says Nick Hedley.
Climate change is already fuelling your grocery and insurance bills – even though we're still in the global warming 'safe' zone.
Extreme weather events – including floods, droughts, heatwaves, wildfires and hailstorms – are happening more frequently and growing in intensity as sea and air temperatures climb.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”