The US is now paying more than any other country for climate change damage, study suggests

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By Hatty Willmoth, BBC Science Focus. 

Excerpt: Compared to every other country in the world, the US is bearing the biggest brunt of the economic losses inflicted by climate breakdown – and will likely continue to do so. That’s according to a recent study from Stanford University, in which scientists calculated the economic loss and damages caused by major fossil fuel emitters. Lead author Marshall Burke, professor of environmental social sciences at Stanford, told BBC Science Focus that the study aimed to find a way to link specific emissions to their economic consequences. ...Notably, the scientists estimated the US to be the largest emitter of greenhouse gases between 1990 and 2020, responsible for $10.2 trillion (£7.6 trillion) of global harm. But they also concluded that the US had suffered the most substantial losses of any country, valued at $16.2 trillion (£12.2 trillion), due to climate collapse. “The US has experienced more [financial] damage than it has caused since 1990, even though its emissions were the biggest source of damage,” said Burke. “That’s because the US’s economy is relatively larger than its share in global emissions. So, it has caused a lot of harm, but also been substantially harmed.” But US emissions have caused significant harm elsewhere too. For instance, the scientists estimated that $1.4 trillion (£1.1 trillion) of this damage fell on the European Union’s shoulders, as well as $500 billion (£375 billion) on India and $330 billion (£250 billion) on Brazil.... 

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