Latest US climate assessment shows the extreme toll taken by climate change
Homes and businesses in Lahaina, Maui, are in ruins on August 16th, 2023, after a devastating wildfire swept through town. | Photo by Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Climate disasters are costing the US billions of dollars a year, and the damage isn’t spread out evenly, according to a new national climate assessment.
The assessment, produced about every four years, lays out the toll climate change is taking across every region in the United States. This is the fifth one — but for the first time, this year’s report includes chapters dedicated to economic impact and social inequities. As floods, fires, heatwaves, and other calamities tied to climate change intensify, households pay the price with higher costs and worsening environmental injustices.
