[rad-green] Extreme Weather Could Spark Economic Recession 'Likes of Which We've Never Seen Before,' Research Warns

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/18/extreme-weather-could-spark-economic-recession-likes-which-weve-never-seen-research
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/18/extreme-weather-could-spark-economic-recession-likes-which-weve-never-seen-research>Common
Dreams          February 18, 2020Extreme Weather Could Spark Economic
Recession 'Likes of Which We've Never Seen Before,' Research Warns"Unpriced
risk was the main cause of the Great Recession in 2007-2008."by Jake
Johnson, staff writer*

*Smoke plume from the Maria Fire rises as seen from Santa Paula, California
on Oct. 31, 2019. (Photo: Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)*

New research published Monday warns
<https://phys.org/news/2020-02-extreme-weather-recession.html> that extreme
weather driven by the climate crisis could bring about an economic
recession "the likes of which we've never seen before" if markets don't do
a better job assessing climate risks.

Paul Griffin, an accounting professor at the University of California,
Davis Graduate School of Management, wrote in a paper
<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-020-0548-2> for *Nature Energy *that
financial markets have not sufficiently accounted for the major economic
risks posed by the global climate crisis, even as extreme weather—from
destructive
hurricanes <https://www.commondreams.org/tag/hurricane-maria> to prolonged
drought
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/18/unthinkable-and-unlivable-reality-australia-sees-hottest-day-record-national-average>—wreaks
havoc across the globe.

"Unpriced risk was the main cause of the Great Recession in 2007-2008,"
Griffin wrote. "Right now, energy companies shoulder much of that risk. The
market needs to better assess risk, and factor a risk of extreme weather
into securities prices... Without better knowledge of this risk, the
average energy investor can only hope that the next extreme event will not
trigger a sudden correction to the market values of energy firms."

Griffin continued:

This past summer, the United States and Europe experienced record-breaking
heat. Now linked reliably to climate change, excessive high temperature is
among the deadliest of weather extremes. Not only can it disrupt
agriculture, harm human health, and stunt economic growth, it can also
overwhelm—and temporarily shut down—large parts of a state's or a nation's
energy system, as in the case of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company
(PG&E) in California.

Extreme heat events can create uncertain and longer duration power outages,
threaten critical infrastructure, exacerbate energy supply and demand
imbalances, and trigger significant legal liability for energy firms. Newer
reports of an increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather
events, moreover, amplify those risks for energy firms.

Despite these obvious risks, investors and asset managers have been
conspicuously slow to connect physical climate risk from extreme weather
events to company market valuations.

Griffin is not the first financial expert to raise alarm about the
potentially calamitous economic impacts of the climate crisis—which would
come in addition to the emergency's incalculable effects
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/07/consistent-mass-extinction-new-study-warns-climate-chaos-driving-rapid-decline>
on
humans, animals, plants, insects, and the planet as a whole.

The Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements warned
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/23/financial-institutions-grow-concerned-about-economic-impacts-climate-crisis>
in
a 115-page report <https://www.bis.org/publ/othp31.pdf> (pdf) last month
that the "increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events
could trigger non-linear and irreversible financial losses."

"Climate change poses unprecedented challenges to human societies," the
report stated, "and our community of central banks and supervisors cannot
consider itself immune to the risks ahead of us."

-- 

--- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Sid-l" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sid-l/CACKppcw4h5w0rAn2Ah4xPqceqSkurF9BPiyGeeiiSs748v%3DnkA%40mail.gmail.com.

---
To unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
List help: <https://riseup.net/lists>