2011-01-02

US most vulnerable to climate change among world's wealthy nations

Jeremy Hance

While the US has done little to mitigate climate change, a new report by humanitarian research organization DARA and the Climate Vulnerable Forum states that of all industrialized nations the US will face the most harm from a warming world. Together with Spain, the US's vulnerability to climate change has been listed as High by the newly releasedClimate Vulnerability Monitor

"Whilst it is the poorest, most vulnerable nations on earth that will bear the brunt of the climate crisis, the industrialized world is not immune from its impact either. Countries such as the United States will suffer the greatest economic losses from climate change so it is clearly in their own interest to act now to address these impacts, and to mitigate climate change," said DARA Trustee and adviser to the report, José María Figueres, in a press release. Figueres is also a former President of Costa Rica. 

According to the report, climate change impacts will cost the US around 40 billion dollars a year by 2030, more than any other nation in the world. 

The US is particularly sensitive to desertification, rising sea levels, and extreme weather. (via)

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