World Bank Report: Climate Change Puts 1.3 Billion People at Risk

Among the other interesting facts acknowledged by the World Bank: the costs of dealing with the effects of climate change are already increasingly quickly.

1 minute read

May 17, 2016, 7:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


China Flood

SFT HQ / Flickr

"The global community is badly prepared for a rapid increase in climate change-related natural disasters that by 2050 will put 1.3 billion people at risk," reports Larry Elliott, who is sharing the findings of a report by the World Bank. The amount of worldwide assets at risk because of climate, change, according to the report: $158 trillion, or "double the total annual output of the global economy."

According to Elliott, the report urges "better planning of cities" as a solution to the problem, but the article focuses mostly on risk. And the damage is already taking its toll. According to the report, "Total annual damage – averaged over a 10-year period – had risen tenfold from 1976–1985 to 2005–2014, from $14bn to more than $140bn." 

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