{"id":20801,"date":"2023-10-05T21:04:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T21:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/?p=743187"},"modified":"2023-10-05T21:04:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T21:04:13","slug":"climate-change-can-cause-u-s-households-significant-financial-strain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2023\/10\/05\/climate-change-can-cause-u-s-households-significant-financial-strain\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Change Can Cause U.S. Households \u2018Significant Financial Strain\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"nav nav-tabs tabs tabs-entry\">\n<li class=\"active\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/national\/2023\/10\/05\/743187.htm\">Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/national\/2023\/10\/05\/743187.htm?comments\" rel=\"nofollow\">0 Comments<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"article-content clearfix\">\n<p>Households can experience significant financial strain through pressures to income and expenses due to climate hazards, a report from the U.S. Department of Treasury shows.<\/p>\n<p>The report, <a href=\"https:\/\/home.treasury.gov\/news\/press-releases\/jy1775#:~:text=For%20impacted%20households%2C%20climate%2Drelated,face%20additional%20expenditures%20on%20utilities.\">The Impact of Climate Change on American Household Finances<\/a>, adds to the department\u2019s work on broader issues around climate change and economic growth and stability. It examines the impacts of climate change on U.S. household finances, with a focus on households that may be most adversely affected.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"79\" data-revive-topics=\"climate-change\" data-revive-companies data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>The report explores the impacts of climate hazards that may harm people, property, resources and the environment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClimate hazards can cause widespread physical damage and force interruptions and closures of normal operations of businesses, governments, and other critical services,\u201d the report states. \u201cAs a result, households can face financial strain from lost income and higher costs or reduced access across a range of consumer goods and services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Climate change may also damage or destroy property, increase the cost of paying for utilities, and add to healthcare costs, the report shows.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClimate events and conditions can result in physical injuries, including those requiring medical care,\u201d the report states. \u201cFor impacted households, climate-related hospitalization or medical services can lead to an overall increase in healthcare expenditures.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Florida<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Florida often seems like ground zero as an example of the ill-effects of climate change, and new study shows that local governments there \u2013 and possibly in other places \u2013 that are vulnerable to extreme weather events are financial peril from increasing costs that may undercutt property tax bases.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bzn bzn-sized bzn-intext-2\">\n<ins data-revive-zoneid=\"162\" data-revive-topics=\"climate-change\" data-revive-companies data-revive-block=\"1\" data-revive-id=\"36eb7c2bd3daa932a43cc2a8ffbed3a9\"><\/ins> <\/div>\n<p>The study, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/01944363.2023.2249866\">Can Florida\u2019s Coast Survive Its Reliance on Development?<\/a>, entails a statewide assessment of how sea level rise will affect Florida\u2019s municipal revenues. The researchers paired the assessment with a statewide survey of coastal planners and managers to find out how they are funding climate adaptation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe found that more than half of Florida\u2019s 410 municipalities will be affected by sea level rise, exposing on average almost 30% of local revenues,\u201d the study states. \u201cYet, though climate impacts will significantly stress local fiscal health, we found no relationship between cities\u2019 prioritization of climate adaptation and their fiscal exposure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study forecasts that municipal revenues \u201cwill become increasingly eroded by climate impacts and market responses.\u201d It shows that one-third local revenues are generated by 211 buildings in areas that will become chronically flooded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProperty tax revenues may decline as insurance companies and property markets downgrade property values to reflect climate impacts, such as increasing flood risks and wildfires,\u201d the study states. \u201cAlready, a growing number of insurance companies have decided to stop covering some regions and types of weather events, raise premiums and deductibles and drop existing policies as payouts rise in the wake of natural disasters. Growing costs of insuring or repairing homes may further hurt property values and increase home abandonment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Record Heat<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The records broke by the global average temperature for September has climate experts reaching to describe the phenomenon.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis month was \u2014 in my professional opinion as a climate scientist \u2014 absolutely gobsmackingly bananas,\u201d Zeke Hausfather, a researcher with Berkeley Earth, said on the social media platforms Bluesky and X.<\/p>\n<p>September broke the record for the month set in 2020 by 0.9F, data maintained by the Japan Meteorological Agency and the EU\u2019s Copernicus Climate Change Service shows. The temperature anomaly for the month was roughly 1.7C above pre-industrial levels, which is above the symbolic 1.5C mark set as the stretch goal in the Paris Agreement, Bloomberg reported in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/international\/2023\/10\/04\/742938.htm\">an article on Insurance Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve never really seen a jump anything quite of this magnitude,\u201d Hausfather said.<\/p>\n<p>The global average temperature this year has also seen a boost from El Ni\u00f1o. Other factors may also be pushing temperatures up incrementally, such as a decline in cooling aerosol pollution from ships.<\/p>\n<p>Hausfather said September 2024 may be unlikely to have all the same factors, and consequently may be not as extreme. However, he called September 2023 a \u201csneak peek\u201d of what the back-to-school month may feel like in a decade as climate change pushes temperatures higher, Bloomberg reported.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Montana<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Montana\u2019s attorney general is appealing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/national\/2023\/08\/14\/735318.htm\">a landmark climate change ruling finding state agencies aren\u2019t doing enough<\/a> to protect a lawsuit\u2019s 16 young plaintiffs from harm caused by global warming.<\/p>\n<p>The state filed notice that it is going to appeal the August ruling by District Court Judge Kathy Seeley. The judge found the Montana Environmental Policy Act violates the plaintiffs\u2019 state constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment, a 1971 law that requires the state\u2019s agencies to consider the potential environmental impacts of proposed projects and take public input before issuing permits<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/montana-youth-climate-change-lawsuit-appeal-3993eb1134982fa9c416eff2ad59b729\">, the Associated Press reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Legislature earlier this year changed the law so the state Department of Environmental Quality would be required to consider greenhouses gas emission effects when issuing permits for fossil fuel projects unless the federal government declares carbon dioxide a regulated pollutant.<\/p>\n<p>Montana is one of only three states with the affirmative right to a healthful environment in their constitutions, which was a key argument tin the Held v. Montana youth case.<\/p>\n<p>In September, six youths from areas in Portugal hit by wildfires and heatwaves took on 32 European governments, alleging in court that their failure to act fast enough on climate change is a violation of their human rights. The case is the largest climate case to be heard by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/news\/international\/2023\/09\/29\/742283.htm\">Reuters news service reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Past columns:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"tagtag\"> <span class=\"tagtag\">Topics<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/location\/florida\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Florida<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/location\/usa\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">USA<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/climate-change\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Climate Change<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insurancejournal.com\/location\/montana\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-primary tagtag\">Montana<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll\" data-post=\"743187\">\n<div class=\"article-poll-vote\">\n<p>Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-poll-feedback voted-no\">\n<form class=\"feedback-form\">\n<p>Thank you! 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The report, The Impact of Climate&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[4,5,88,304,11,305,2,1],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20801"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20801\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}