As the seas rise, so will the costs associated with them. The impact of climate change on oceans alone could cost $2 trillion by the end of the century, according to a report by the in Sweden.
The report is part of a book, Valuing the Ocean, which is being compiled by the SEI for the UN鈥檚 on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June.
Its headline figure comes from a scenario in which Earth鈥檚 temperature rises 4 掳C by 2100, which will have economic impacts on fisheries, tourism and coasts, as well as those associated with the oceans鈥� ability to absorb atmospheric carbon. If the temperature rise holds at 2 掳C it could save as much as $1.4 trillion.
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Report co-editor of Stockholm University emphasises that the $2 trillion figure is not a worst-case scenario. It doesn鈥檛 count the cost of factors that aren鈥檛 easily quantifiable, such as the value of species which will go extinct when their habitats are lost.
The value of the oceans should not be underestimated. 鈥淓very second breath [of oxygen] we take comes from marine organisms,鈥� Noone says.
