Climate change has led to a marked decrease in salaries nationwide, including in places that haven’t experienced significant temperature changes, and the problem is expected to worsen without intervention.
Since 2000, global warming has cut incomes in the U.S. by 12%, according to a study published in the journal PNAS. “A lot of the real cost comes from how temperature changes across the whole country ripple through prices and trade,” study co-author Derek Lemoine, an economics professor at the University of Arizona, said in a statement. Heat “reduces productivity, lowers crop yields and changes how people spend money,” said ZME Science. These events “feed into the price of goods and shipping across state lines.”
The study only tracked temperatures in the U.S. and not the global impact, but similar trends are likely present in other countries. “What does not change, though, is that climate change has caused losses of at least several percent,” said Lemoine to the BBC.
While temperature can affect national trade routes, it also “affects workers’ productivity, agricultural yields and how people spend their time,” said the BBC. “All could affect income directly and could affect the prices of traded goods.”
Understanding how climate change has affected the economy can better help determine what actions can be taken. “If you want to decide where to direct adaptation resources,” said Lemoine, “you have to know what’s already happening on the ground.” | 
