Tropical Cyclones and Raising Social Cost of Carbon

November 25, 2023

GS Paper I Geography

Context:

A Recent study in the Journal Nature Communications found that Extreme weather events like Tropical Cyclones have long-term economic impacts.

Key Findings of Study:

Global social cost of carbon: Globally, the long-term impacts of tropical cyclones raise the global social cost of carbon by more than 20 percent.
Annual economic loss: Tropical cyclones affect an average of 20.4 million people annually and cause a mean direct annual economic loss of $51.5 billion over the last decade.
- The study estimates India’s long-term economic damages from tropical cyclones to range from $43-47 per tonne of carbon dioxide.
Social costs to India: India’s social costs represent 11.3% of global median economic damages from tropical cyclones.
Relation between Climate change and Growth: The growth losses from tropical cyclones robustly increased with global mean temperature for 37 out of the 41 evaluated countries.
- Damages from tropical cyclones could drive up the country-level social costs of China, the US, and India by 68%, 53%, and 9%, respectively.
Relation between Damages and Development level: Economic damages from tropical cyclones do not depend on a country’s development level, with a slump in growth recorded across all four income groups.
- The share of losses for high-income countries was 91 percent, upper-middle-income countries (85 percent), lower-middle-income countries (93 percent), and low-income countries (100 percent).
Incomplete Picture: The researchers argue that current policies do not fully consider the long-term economic impacts of extreme weather events, leading to an underestimation of the social cost of carbon.

The Social cost of carbon: It estimates the future costs of societies from the emission of one additional tonne of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and is a crucial metric informing climate policies.

Study’s Call to Action:

Improve Cost Estimation Methods: The study emphasizes the need to quantify the overall costs of extreme events better to inform societies about the actual costs of climate change.
Policy Based on Long-term Impacts: By understanding the long-term economic impacts of tropical cyclones, policymakers can make more informed decisions about climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Also Read: Cyclone Midhili

Source: Down to Earth