New research reports that climate change has already reduced income in the United States by about 12 percent. The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and is led by Derek Lemoine at the University of Arizona.
Researchers used climate models to compare a world with human emissions and a world without them. They then matched county-level daily temperature data with county income records from the Bureau of Economic Analysis for 1969–2019. This let them see how numbers of hotter and colder days related to income, both locally and across the country.
The study does not measure damages from extreme events like hurricanes, wildfires or floods. Instead it focuses on routine temperature shifts and suggests the findings could affect resilience planning, insurance and location decisions. Early funding came from the Arizona Institute for Resilience.
Difficult words
- research — careful study to find new facts
- climate — typical weather patterns in a place
- model — a simple copy used to test ideasmodels
- income — money people or places receive from work
- emission — gas or material released into the airemissions
- resilience — ability to recover from problems or damage
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How could hotter or colder days affect people in your town?
- Would you consider moving because of climate change? Why or why not?
- What local information could help study temperature and income in your area?
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