The U.S. now experiences an extreme weather event in which damages and costs top $1 billion every three weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported. That compares with every four months in the 1980s, when adjusted for inflation, according to the latest installment of the U.S. National Climate Assessment released Tuesday. For the first time, the assessment includes a separate chapter on the economic impacts associated with climate action. Such events cost the U.S. nearly $150 billion each year and disproportionately hurt poor and disadvantaged communities. Other economic consequences of climate change will become more severe unless the country invests more in clean energy and adapts cities to higher temperatures and rising sea levels, according to the assessment. “While some economic impacts of climate change are already being felt across the country, the impacts of future changes are projected to be more significant and apparent across the U.S. economy,” the federal report said. Read more. (Subscription required.)
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