Global supply chains amplify economic costs of future extreme heat risk. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38480894/)

These scientists wanted to understand how the increasing heatwaves caused by climate change could affect the world's economy in the future. They used different models to predict the impact of heat stress on people's health, their ability to work, and how it could disrupt businesses around the world.

They found that as the heatwaves get worse, the global economy could lose a significant amount of money each year. By the year 2060, the total economic losses could range from 0.6% to 4.6%. This means that countries could lose a lot of money because of people getting sick from the heat, not being able to work as effectively, and businesses facing challenges due to disruptions in their supply chains.

The scientists also discovered that smaller and developing countries could be hit the hardest, with places like Africa and Southeast Asia facing much higher losses compared to other parts of the world. Countries like China and the USA, which have many factories and businesses, could also suffer greatly from these economic impacts.

Overall, this study shows that if we don't take action to address climate change and reduce the severity of heatwaves, it could have serious consequences for people's health and the global economy in the future.

Sun Y., Zhu S., Wang D., Duan J., Lu H., Yin H., Tan C., Zhang L., Zhao M., Cai W., Wang Y., Hu Y., Tao S., Guan D. Global supply chains amplify economic costs of future extreme heat risk. Nature. 2024 Mar 13. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07147-z.