Full Title: Climate Change: Cost of Inaction for Maryland's Economy
Author(s): Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
Publisher(s): Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
Publication Date: November 1, 2015
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
The American Climate Prospectus addressed several key climate impacts over the coming century, including increases in heat-related mortality, increases in the amount of coastal property exposed to ooding, declines in labor productivity, increases in energy expendi- tures, and declines in agricultural output. In this paper, we explore impacts not explicitly presented by the American Climate Prospectus, which include estimates of how climate change might affect infrastructure, tourism, ecosystems, agriculture, water resources, or as- pects of human health beyond heat-related mortality (e.g., respiratory ailments associated with lower air quality, and changes in the range of disease vectors). Additionally, we provide an update to the costs of inaction previously listed in Chapter 4 and Appendix F of the 2011 Maryland Plan to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Appendix A; Table 1). Where avail- able, data are provided by various state agencies. Data that could not be updated, or have not signi cantly changed since 2011, have been copied from the 2011 report. Additional regional data are supplied by the EPA report, Climate Change in the United States: Bene ts of Global Action. In all cases: 1) risks and costs grow with increasing severity of climate change impacts, and 2) risks and costs can be signi cantly reduced through immediate ac- tions to mitigate the impacts of climate change.