A United Nations research has found out that soaring temperatures, caused by climate change, may cost global economies more than $2 trillion by 2030. It would also restrict working hours in some of the poorest parts of the world. As many as 43 countries, mainly those in Asia, including China, Indonesia, and Malaysia, will experience decline in their economies because of heat stress, according to Tord Kjellstrom, a director at the Health and Environment International Trust based in Nelson, New Zealand. As a result, China’s gross domestic product would reduce 1 per cent and affect that of Indonesia by 6 per cent by 2030.
According to the paper published in Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health Extreme, heat in Southeast Asia already curbs annual working hours by 15 to 20 per cent and that figure could double by 2050 as climate change continues. The study was one of six papers published by the UN University in Kuala Lumpur that details the impact of climate change on human health. From 1980 to 2012, the study said about 2.1 million people worldwide died as a direct result of almost 21,000 natural catastrophes such as floods, mudslides, extreme heat, drought, high winds or fires. The cost of those disasters exceeded $4 trillion, a sum comparable to the current GDP of Germany.
In 2030, in both India and China, the GDP losses could total $450 billion, it is being said. The impact could be reduced by making a major shift in working hours and changing the methods of how new factories are built to require less power to cool. Low and middle income countries are more likely to lose productivity Richer countries will largely avoid losses from heat, the study found. Russia, Norway and Sweden may see productivity dip as a result of colder winters.
Heat stress is more likely to restrict low-paid and low-skill jobs such as heavy labour, farming, and manufacturing. That has the potential to increase the gap between rich and poor. Demand for air conditioning in offices, shopping malls and homes are likely to soar as temperatures rise placing a strain on power supplies, according to the paper.
