Storms, climate change, and the US economy: A regional analysis

Joelle Saad-Lessler, George Tseliodis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Climate change models predict that storm frequency should decrease over time, while storm intensity should increase. This paper looks at the region specific effects of storm frequency and storm intensity on various industries in the US economy, using yearly data from 1977 through 1997. The results indicate that a 7% predicted decrease in storm frequency results in a $279.7 million loss for the farm industry, but that effect is limited to the states in the southern region of the US. Also, a 6% predicted increase in storm intensity leads to a projected loss of $586.4 billion in retail trade in states in the northeast, and a total loss of $12.3 billion for a number of manufacturing sectors in southern states. Finally, the predicted 6% increase in storm intensity benefits the health services sector by $412.2 billion in the Midwestern states. The impacts of the predicted change in storm intensity are much stronger than those of storm frequency.The region specific impacts of predicted storm changes add up to 2.3% of the US economy in 1997. Thus, the economic effects of storms on the US economy are not negligible.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5-20
Number of pages16
JournalRegional and Sectoral Economic Studies
Volume9
Issue number1
StatePublished - 2009

Keywords

  • Climate change
  • Storm frequency
  • Storm intensity

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