The White House has said that floods, fires, and droughts that are fueled by climate change could cost the U.S. federal budget as much as $2 trillion per year by the end of the century.
An assessment conducted by the Office of Management and Budget found that $2 trillion per year will mean a total of l 7.1% annual revenue loss.
Responding to this, Candace Vahlsing, an OMB climate and science official said that Climate change threatens communities and sectors across the country, including through floods, drought, extreme heat, wildfires, and hurricanes (affecting) the U.S. economy and the lives of everyday Americans.
“Future damages could dwarf current damages if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated,” she said.
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The assessment also found that the federal government could spend an additional $25 billion to $128 billion annually on expenditures such as coastal disaster relief, flood, crop, and healthcare insurance, wildfire suppression and flooding at federal facilities.
Recall that In 2021, a record heatwave and drought in the U.S. West resulted in two massive wildfires that tore through California and Oregon and were among the largest in the history of both states.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had said in March that the severe drought that has gripped parts of the U.S. West since mid-2020 is likely to persist or worsen this spring due.
U.S. military bases, including Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and Tyndall Air Force base in Florida, are reported to have suffered billions of dollars in damage in recent years from floods and hurricanes.
The OMB in its assessment further stated that increased wildfires could boost federal fire suppression costs between $1.55 billion to $9.6 billion annually and that nearly 12,200 federal buildings and structures could be flooded as seas rise with replacement costs of nearly $44 billion.
Story was adapted from Reuters.
