Climate Risk Exposure: An Assessment of the Federal Government’s Financial Risks to Climate Change

The climate crisis poses a serious threat to the United States economy and human welfare, with a narrowing timeframe to invest in opportunities to avoid the most catastrophic impacts. Extreme weather events can be exacerbated by climate change, disrupting supply chains, and flooding made worse by sea level rise can destroy critical infrastructure. As a smaller subset of these impacts, climate change threatens the Nation’s fiscal health. The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) notes that:

Climate change creates new risks and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities in communities across the United States, presenting growing challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth.