Whether you believe in climate change or not, there’s no denying that it’s in the news a lot these days. Climate change has been blamed for the California drought, and as an aside, the country learned this week that actor Tom Selleck has reportedly been accused in a lawsuit of stealing truckloads of water to use on his ranch in the parched Golden State. Pope Francis, in a 183-page encyclical, recently called upon the world to start phasing out fossil fuels and blamed humankind for global warming. World leaders just finished convening a two-day conference on climate change in Toronto.
But climate change isn’t only about the climate changing. If the world continues to heat up, our bank accounts will change, too, and often not for the better. Here are some ways your money could be impacted:
Property values will climb. Assuming you live in an area that becomes more and more drought-prone, people may not want to live there, says Felicia Wu, a professor of food science and human nutrition at Michigan State University.
“Drought-stricken areas may find populations migrating away, which of course would be ruinous for the economies of those areas,” Wu says.
So you could have trouble selling your house and perhaps keeping your job. And while that sounds like an alarmist conclusion, and it may well be, a recent report released by the Environmental Protection Agency called, “Climate Change in the U.S.: Benefits of Global Action,” concluded that by the end of the century, the U.S. could experience up to $180 billion in economic losses due to drought and water shortages.
Homeowners insurance will rise. In June, a study published in the U.K. journal Nature Climate Change concluded that man-made global warming is responsible for about 75 percent of all hot-temperature extremes worldwide over the past 100 years as well as 18 percent of heavy rainfall.
But even if you don’t believe that climate change is causing, or helping along, extreme weather, what matters is that the insurance industry does, says Ashley Hunter, owner of HM Risk Group, a commercial insurance and risk management brokerage based in Austin, Texas.
“We all recognize that climate change is a huge issue,” Hunter says, “and there are a lot of discussions about who is going to pay for the losses in extreme weather and how do you rewrite the policies so a carrier doesn’t become insolvent.”
That said, Hunter offers a lot of hope that homeowners aren’t going to find themselves with skyrocketing premiums, even if the weather changes drastically.
“Premiums have to be affordable. If they aren’t, nobody can afford to be covered,” she says.
And what may help lower high premiums in the future is that discounts, to offset the higher costs, will evolve.
You could be out of a job. No need to look at online jobs boards yet. Most of us probably don’t have to worry, but you may have reason to get nervous if you’re in an industry that’s likely to be impacted by warming temperatures and extreme weather.
Joseph Cunningham, assistant professor of accounting at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania , says, “Look at your household’s income. What is the source of that income? Is that source dependent on the climate? … Farms, vacation destinations, golf courses and such could be affected by a future change in climate. California’s ski industry had zero revenue this past winter.”
Of course, you may find a job due to climate change as well. One can imagine that many sectors in the energy industry will thrive, and last year’s National Climate Assessment Report, a product of several federal agencies, predicted that tourism will improve in some states, noting that Maine’s summers may be warmer longer and bring in more tourists and dollars.
Donna Childs, the Warwick, Rhode Island-based founder and CEO of Prisere LLC, which focuses on risk resilience for small businesses, is worried about the effect climate change may have on smaller companies.
“The Fortune 500 are preparing for climate change,” Childs says. “But those big companies don’t provide half of all jobs. Small businesses do … The vulnerability of smaller businesses to climate impacts means a very different future for the average Jane or Joe.”
Food. While it might seem likely that food prices will go up if frequent droughts become the norm and farmers around the country have trouble watering crops, you can stop imagining an apocalyptic era in which humans need to learn to enjoy eating dirt.
“Surprisingly, the grocery store won’t look much different,” predicts James Booker, a professor of economics at Siena College in Loudonville, New York, and someone who has worked for two decades in the management and sustainability of water use. “With our food coming from around the world, and the amazing ability of modern farms to adapt to changing conditions, changes will arise from our tastes and sensibilities more than necessity.”
Wu largely agrees. She says that the costs of food production will increase because of water being more scarce, but she thinks engineering technologies may emerge that would allow crops to be grown with less water.
Energy costs. Exactly how much one’s electric bill will climb because of climate change is difficult and maybe impossible to accurately predict, but it will increase, according to the EPA’s recent climate change report.
“Higher summer temperatures, particularly during heat waves, will likely increase peak electricity demand, placing more stress on the electricity grid and increasing electricity costs,” the report stated.
The report did have some good news. In the future, you’ll probably pay less on your heating bills.
But overall, the report found that higher reliance on air-conditioning will negate the benefits of lower heating bills, meaning you’ll pay a higher electric bill annually.
Energy costs will also likely go higher if the U.S. passes legislation that forces energy providers to adopt more Earth-friendly practices, says Thomas Kinnaman, professor and department chair of economics at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Whether that legislation is passed, however, is “a big if,” he adds.
And if energy providers aren’t more highly regulated? You may save money on energy costs, but you’ll lose money in other ways, according to Kinnaman.
“We will pay more for homeowners insurance, food and in taxes to finance disaster cleanups,” he says.
In other words, we can spend money to fight climate change, or we can spend money not fighting it.
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How Climate Change Could Affect Your Finances originally appeared on usnews.com