The Economics of Weather
More Extreme Weather
How climate change makes heatwaves, heavy rain and droughts more frequent, why this raises economic costs, and how adaptation spending pays off.
Climate change makes weather more extreme.
Trends
- More frequent and intense heatwaves.
- More heavy rain days, even when total rain is similar.
- Longer dry spells.
India
India faces rising heat and more erratic monsoons.
Costs
Extreme weather raises costs for farming, health and infrastructure.
Adaptation
- Early warnings.
- Heat-resilient buildings.
- Drought-tolerant crops.
- Insurance.
Returns
The Global Commission on Adaptation (2019) found adaptation investments can yield high benefit-cost ratios.
The heavy rain day
A city gets a month's rain in a day, overwhelming drains built for older rainfall patterns.
Thinking climate change means only hotter averages
Extremes matter most.
Key takeaways
- Extremes are becoming more common.
- India faces heat and erratic rain.
- Costs are rising.
- Adaptation pays off.
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