Map Monday: US Economic Impacts of Climate Change

Via Planetizen and Governing, here’s a map released by the Federal Government Accountability Office that shows the “economic impacts of climate change.”

Minnesota (or northern Wisconsin) appears on the map, listed as a place with “decreased cold-related mortality”:

 

 

Personally, I’m a dubious that cold-related mortality is a huge economic problem for northern Minnesota, but I looked up some of the numbers. It’s true that on average about 20-40 people die annually from exposure to cold, but the vast majority of these cases are drug or alcohol related, and aren’t even that tied to sever winters. I’m skeptical that warming winters will have a significant impact.

Rather, I’m guessing we’re much more likely to see impacts in northern Minnesota that resemble the Duluth floods of 2012, which washed out a huge amount of infrastructure all around the city. Or we might see climate change helping to spread invasive species like the mountain pine beetle that might have a terrible effect on northern forests.

(Not to mention the impending disappearance of half of Florida…)

Bill Lindeke

About Bill Lindeke

Pronouns: he/him

Bill Lindeke has writing blogging about sidewalks and cities since 2005, ever since he read Jane Jacobs. He is a lecturer in Urban Studies at the University of Minnesota Geography Department, the Cityscape columnist at Minnpost, and has written multiple books on local urban history. He was born in Minneapolis, but has spent most of his time in St Paul. Check out Twitter @BillLindeke or on Facebook.