Report: Minnesota to see billions in costs from impacts of climate cha...

By Kirsti Marohn

A new report estimates that climate change could cost Minnesotans more than $20 billion a year by 2040, if global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the state doesn’t take action to adapt to a warmer climate.

Those costs include medical treatment for illness from extreme heat and air pollution, repairing damage to roads and buildings from floods, lost crop productivity and an increase in invasive pests that affect recreation, fishing and forestry.

“These impacts cross economic sectors and affect the day-to-day lives of Minnesotans,” the report states. The report estimates that without action, annual climate costs could reach almost $50 billion by the end of the century.

The key message is that “climate change is expensive. It’s already impacting Minnesota, and it will continue to be more expensive,” said Katrina Kessler, commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which produced the report.

“Those costs will be borne by individuals, business owners, farmers, local governments — these are the people who are going to end up paying for it,” Kessler said.

The report found that the cost of inaction far exceeds the cost of climate adaptation measures, such as adding air conditioning to homes, schools and public buildings; upgrading roads and bridges; and planting more resilient crops. It estimates those actions could cost as much as $3.8 billion a year by the end of the century.

The report looks at five categories of costs: health, agriculture, transportation and electricity infrastructure, buildings and ecosystems. It estimates that taking steps to adapt to climate change is eight to 15 times less expensive than the costs of future climate change.