Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
6/26/2015
Global action taken now to combat climate change will lead to economic and health benefits long-term, according to a report released this week by the Environmental Protection Agency. The report compares two scenarios, one in which global temperature rise is limited to 2 degrees Celsius and one in which the global temperature is allowed to rise 9 degrees Celsius. The report does not, however, suggest a path to meeting the 2 degree goal or consider the cost of climate action. “This report shows us how costly inaction will be to Americans’ health, our environment and our society. But more importantly, it helps us understand the magnitude of benefits to a number of sectors of the U.S. with global climate action,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said in an EPA release. “We can save tens of thousands of American lives, and hundreds of billions of dollars, annually in the United States by the end of this century, but the sooner we act, the better off America and future generations of Americans will be.”
According to the report, global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will help avoid future climate change related costs. “For nearly all sectors analyzed, global GHG mitigation is projected to prevent or substantially reduce adverse impacts in the U.S. this century compared to a future without emission reductions. For many sectors, the projected benefits of mitigation are substantial; for example, in 2100 mitigation is projected to result in cost savings of $4.2-$7.4 billion associated with avoided road maintenance,” the report says.
