Global Warming Costs Economy $2 Trillion In Lost Productivity

If the hot weather goes on, the rising temperatures could lose the world economy $2 trillion worth of productivity loss by the year 3030.

Scientists: Global Warming Will Only Cost About 1% Of World Economy https://t.co/ZisxrQBLxN pic.twitter.com/8Vxtlp6Ag1

— The Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 19, 2016

A research from the UN as printed by VOA noted that in Southeast Asia alone, up to 20 percent of annual work hours could be lost in jobs, especially those with exposure to extreme heat. The figures will also double by 2030 as the effects deepen.

Tord Kjellstrom, co-author of the research shared, "For certain tropical countries that are not so well-economically developed, they might lose up to 10 percent of working hours during daylight." This could equal to an entire month being lost because the heat could hinder people from work.

More than 40 countries will see a fall in their Gross Domestic Products as well, majority of them in Asia, including Indonesia and Thailand, which could see their GDP reduced by 6 percent, while India, by 3.2 percent.

By the mid-1990s, poor countries have lost 1 to 3 percent of all daylight work hours due to extreme heat, which causes exhaustion, stroke, and even death among exposed workers. Even if the effects are not too extreme, according to Independent UK,for people who are physically active in work, the hotter the day is, the slower they work as the body adapts to the heat.

The number of intensely hot days per year has doubled since 1960, which is becoming a problem. As Kjellstrom noted, even within a short timespan, losses due to increasing heat could cost billions.

This conclusion did not come out of nowhere. The Washington Post noted that Kjellstrom and his colleagues found that in dozens of countries, work hours have been lost due to the intense heat, and has been doing so since the 1990s. At the rate the global warming is ongoing, they said that the trend will continue.