To better understand some of the potential economic impacts of severe climate changes, Sandia National Laboratories economists estimated the impacts to the U.S. economy of climate change-induced impacts to U.S. precipitation over the 2010 to 2050 time period. The economists developed an impact methodology that converted changes in precipitation and water availability to changes in economic activity, and conducted simulations of economic impacts using the REMI PI+ model of the U.S. economy. There was at least four dimensions to climate change that were important in terms of their impact on the economy: first, different types of severe climate change could occur; second, these global climate changes affect different economic sectors; third, the location, spatial extent, and resolution of the consequences of climate change can vary widely; fourth, the time period of climate change and impacts can be very different.
