Flood, fire, and drought fueled by climate change could take a massive bite out of the U.S. federal budget per year by the end of the century, the White House said in its first ever such assessment on Sunday.
The Office of Management and Budget assessment, tasked by President Joe Biden last May, found the upper range of climate change's hit to the budget by the end of the century could total 7.1% annual revenue loss, equal to $2 trillion a year in today's dollars.
"Climate change threatens communities and sectors across the country, including through floods, drought, extreme heat, wildfires, and hurricanes (affecting) the U.S. economy and the lives of everyday Americans," Candace Vahlsing, an OMB climate and science official, and its chief economist Danny Yagan, said in a blog seen by Reuters ahead of publication on Monday. "Future damages could dwarf current damages if greenhouse gas emissions continue unabated."