10 Cause and Effect Essay Topics on Economics of Climate Change

Topics and ideas
Posted on January 28, 2016

If you have been asked to write a cause and effect essay on climate change, then you need to include facts to substantiate the claims you are including in your writing. That being said, below are a handful of useful facts on the economics of climate change which you can use for a cause and effect essay:

  1. Economic estimates relating to the impact of climate change are based on the GDP losses as temperatures increase. This leads to market and non-market impacts. Market impacts will include agricultural impacts, forestry impacts, tourism problems, and fishery problems. There will be damage to coastal regions which results from the sea level change. There will be shifts in the cost of heating and cooling. There will be changes in water resources available. Non-market impacts will include the spread of disease negatively impacting health, increased pollution and increased water shortages. There will be a negative impact on leisure activities, a loss of biodiversity, and an inability for cities and cultures to migrate.
  2. The regions which will experience the most negative economic impacts include Africa, Latin America, and Asia. China, North America, and Russia will suffer small impacts from warming temperatures. India will face negative impacts such as agricultural damages, changes to the monsoon pattern, and deteriorating health. As thin ice continues to deplete, so does the life of the Canadian Inuit villages and their ability to sustain their environments. In Africa the spread of tropical diseases will increase and the health of many inhabitants will deteriorate. In addition, there will be larger agricultural damages which will damage the agricultural potential of the areas. Europe will face risks in the form of damage to coastal areas.
  3. The current economic impact of climate change has reached 1.2 trillion dollars per year for the world, which has taken 1.6 percent of the annual GDP from the global GDP. It is estimated that by the year 2030 the cost for climate change and for the resulting air pollution will jump from where it is up to 3.2 percent of the total global GDP, the majority of which will be a burden borne by the developing countries. In fact, the developing countries will face losses up to 11 percent of their total GDP.
  4. Climate change has resulted in an average 400,000 deaths from increased illness, natural disasters, pollution, and other impacts around the world, over 1 year. Developing countries are facing devastating agricultural damage from extreme weather which has contributed to malnutrition and poverty related diseases, both of which are responsible for the aforementioned fact. Climate-sensitive diseases are often transmitted by mosquitoes or other insects and include diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis, and dengue fever. Polluted waters can lead to cholera or other diseases associated with algal blooms. Ticks which might carry Lyme disease will thrive in areas with specific temperature and humidity levels. There are many kinds of ticks, including soft ticks, hard ticks, deer ticks, and winter ticks, each thriving in different temperatures. With climate change and health concerns rising, it is important to monitor the potential for spread of diseases based on weather such as vector-borne malaria. In addition to this, air pollution from fossil fuels has resulted in 4.5 million deaths per year.
  5. Temperatures have risen by 0.7 degrees Celsius around the globe since the end of the last century and this has brought with it a ten percent loss of productivity for farming. This means a loss of four million tons of food grain. This totals around 2.5 billion dollars in loss. That totals roughly 2 percent of the GDP of the UK.
  6. Extreme weather has the ability to wipe out 2 percent of the United States GDP by the end of 2030, and it could cost roughly 1.2 trillion dollars for China by the same time. In fact, the potential for wind chill is yet another sign of climate change, as is the possibility of injury from larger winds which result in higher economic costs for injury and death, taking from the GDP of each country.
  7. The changing of winds increases movement of air pollution. Air pollution has a very hazardous effect on climate change and health as it can warrant knew allergies, triggering mild and prolonged reactions such as sneezing to more severe reactions such as allergic breakouts, swelling of the throat and the eventual closing thereof, requiring emergency medical attention. This will lead to higher GDP health-related costs for healthcare and for mitigating the spread of disease and pollution.
  8. There are property damages sustained by changes in weather and natural disasters including prolonged drought and dust storms, wildfires, tropical storms, and heat waves which add another 3-4 percent of the GDP into covering these costs.
  9. The melting of the sea ice in the Arctic has reached a new record and should it continue at the same rate it will result in ice free summers and the extinction of polar bears. This would be linked to cold and rainy summers in Europe, as well as the severe drought in the UK and US over the last six years which has resulted in high food costs for the United States and damage to farmers by way of monsoon disruptions in India.
  10. In Antarctica the glaciers are losing their ice mass at alarming rates as well. The Pine Island Glacier, for example, has lost its ice thickness at an alarmingly high rate of 1.6 meters annually. The British Antarctic Survey uncovered that the average loss of ice over the last four thousand and seven hundred years never exceeded 3.8 centimeters annually. This means that rapid loss is taking place 42 times faster than the last nearly five thousand years, which means that the spread of disease, drought, and high food costs will grow.

Here are the facts that will provide you with assistance whenever you need to write a paper on a related issue. You can also use 20 topics on economics of climate change and some writing tips on cause/effect essays. Benefit from these “helpers” and complete your assignments with pleasure.

References:
Helm, Dieter, and Cameron Hepburn. The Economics And Politics Of Climate Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
Lerner, Adrienne Wilmoth, and Chiara St. Pierre. Climate Change. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Print.
Metz, Bert. Climate Change 2007. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print.
Stern, N. H. The Economics Of Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print.
Sundar, I, and V Radha. Economics Of Climate Change. New Delhi: Sarup Book Publishers, 2009. Print.
Tanaka, Shelley. Climate Change. Toronto: Groundwood Books, 2006. Print.
Verner, Dorte, and Clemens Breisinger. Economics Of Climate Change In The Arab World. Washington D.C.: The World Bank, 2013. Print.

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