Impacts of Climate Change on Washington's Economy

2009 Full Report (2.6MB pdf)
Focus on Impacts of Climate Change in Washington State - overview factsheet (pdf)

News release
2006 Economic Impacts Report

In February 2009, the University of Oregon issued a report by a team of university and private economists from Oregon, Washington and several other states, detailing the economic costs in Washington state of a “business as usual approach to climate change.”

The economists concluded that Washington’s families, businesses and communities are likely to incur billions of dollars of annual economic costs if Washington state and other states and nations fail to drive reductions in climate-changing greenhouse gas pollution.

Figure 1. Potential Economic Costs in Washington Under a Business-as-Usual Approach to Climate Change, 2020, 2040, and 2080 (dollars per year), click to enlarge

click image to enlarge

The report identifies the following impacts to Washington’s economy:

Increased energy costs
Reduced salmon populations
Coastal and storm damage
Reduced food production
Increased wildland fire costs
Increased public health costs
Lost recreation

The 2009 economic report is built on a 2006 study of the impacts of climate change on Washington’s economy.