A new study from the European Central Bank and the University of Mannheim has found that extreme weather events are eating away at Europe’s economy, especially in Malta.<\/p>\n
What is this study about?<\/p>\n
According to the Times of Malta<\/a>, research estimated that this summer’s extreme weather would slash economic activity across the EU by \u20ac43 billion ($50.6 billion). That’s equal to about 0.26% of total output.<\/p>\n By 2029, the long-term effects could total \u20ac126 billion, the equivalent of around $147 billion in losses.<\/p>\n Smaller economies like Malta, Cyprus, and Bulgaria are among the hardest hit. Malta alone is expected to lose nearly 3% of its economic output by 2029. That’s roughly \u20ac1,000 (about $1,166) per person: a significant loss for a small island nation.<\/p>\n Why this matters now<\/p>\n Extreme weather disrupts entire economic systems alongside property and land.<\/p>\n As Sehrish Usman, the study’s lead author, explained<\/a> to the Guardian, “These events affect lives and livelihoods through a wide range of channels that extend beyond the initial impact.”<\/p>\n Usman also said<\/a> the true cost of extreme weather often appears slowly, as it ripples through supply chains, infrastructure, and local economies.<\/p>\n The research team warned that these costs are likely underestimated. The analysis didn’t account for compounding disasters such as wildfires or overlapping droughts and heat waves.<\/p>\n “Extreme weather events are increasingly having substantial economic impacts in Europe,” the report concluded<\/a>. “With continued climate change, these impacts are likely to grow in the coming decades.”<\/p>\n And it’s not just a European problem. In the U.S., the Climate Action Tracker recently downgraded the nation’s climate efforts from “insufficient” to “critically insufficient.”<\/p>\n How often do you worry about the quality of your drinking water?<\/p>\n Never <\/a> <\/p>\n Sometimes <\/a> <\/p>\n Often <\/a> <\/p>\n Always <\/a> <\/p>\n Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.<\/p>\n According to an analysis from Energy Innovation<\/a>, that downgrade followed major rollbacks on clean energy incentives. It’s a shift experts warn could cost the U.S. $1.1 trillion in gross domestic product by 2034. It will also eliminate more than 830,000 jobs by 2030.<\/p>\n How this impacts everyday individuals<\/p>\n For most households, the financial fallout of extreme weather shows up in rising costs. According to a recent Climate Change in the American Mind survey, 82% of Americans believe their homeowners insurance costs are rising. Two-thirds said prices are going up “a lot.”<\/p>\n Economist St\u00e9phane Hallegatte of the World Bank warned<\/a> reporters at the Guardian that GDP losses alone don’t capture the human toll: “Especially when disasters affect poor communities and people, the impact on [gross value added] may be minimal because these people are poor. But it does not mean they won’t suffer.”<\/p>\n The real cost lies in inaction<\/p>\n The takeaway from the new report is clear: doing nothing will be far more expensive than investing in prevention.<\/p>\n Researchers emphasize that adaptation measures, from reinforcing flood defenses to expanding drought-resistant agriculture, can dramatically reduce future costs. Investing in cleaner, more affordable energy can protect both the planet and people’s pocketbooks.<\/p>\n And, perhaps most importantly, staying informed about critical climate issues<\/a> can equip you with the knowledge to tackle the impacts these issues have on your local communities.<\/p>\n Join our free newsletter<\/a> for good news and useful tips, and don’t miss this cool list<\/a> of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study from the European Central Bank and the University of Mannheim has found that extreme weather…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[66966,66965,66963,242,40348,11157,9824,85,46,17672,141,33230,66964],"class_list":["post-101445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-economic-impacts","tag-economic-output","tag-economic-systems","tag-environment","tag-europes-economy","tag-european-central-bank","tag-extreme-weather-events","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-malta","tag-science","tag-times-of-malta","tag-university-of-mannheim"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}