Consequences Of Climate Change

(The real and projected impacts on ecosystems, society, and the economy.)

On The Turning Away
Pink Floyd
Album: Momentary Lapse of Reason

This 13 minute clip from 60 Minutes in 2023 explores some of the consequences we have already started to see due to our overpopulation of the planet. But the wake up statement is towards the end at minute 11 when Stanford Biologist, Paul Ehrlich states “I know there is no political will to do any of the things that I’m concerned with, which is exactly why I and the vast majority of my colleagues think we’ve had it…that the next few decades will be the end of the kind of civilization we’re used to.”

The Big Picture

Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it is reshaping our world right now. Rising global temperatures are fueling more extreme weather events, making hurricanes, wildfires, and floods more frequent and destructive. As insurance premiums skyrocket and entire regions become uninsurable, the economic stability of millions is at risk.

Meanwhile, ecosystems are collapsing. Coral reefs are dying, forests are disappearing, and wildlife is being pushed toward extinction. Human-driven deforestation and industrial agriculture are accelerating the crisis, releasing more carbon into the atmosphere and further destabilizing the climate.

The economic and social consequences are just beginning. Food shortages, supply chain disruptions, and inflation will worsen as climate disasters increase. Water scarcity is already driving conflict in some parts of the world, and rising sea levels threaten to displace millions, creating a growing crisis of climate refugees.

We are living through the sixth mass extinction this planet has seen, but this time, we are the cause. The question is no longer whether climate change will affect us—it’s how bad we will let it get. If we fail to act now, we will look back and wish we had changed course while we still had the chance and that chance is quickly evaporating.

Historical Perspective

Prior to 1865, slavery was legal in the US. Advocates of slavery claimed it was “essential for the economy.”

When people recognize an issue as wrong and advocate for political change, change will occur.

Food For Thought

There are many examples of the government apologizing and even compensating for past misdeeds. (Click here for examples.)

Given that we are now fully aware that burning fossil fuels is leading to the destruction of our children’s future, how will the government compensate them for that?

Here is a short 5 minute video that paints a fairly detailed picture of how our daily lives will look in 2050. That’s just 25 years away. This video, the descriptions in The Big Picture above and really all of this Consequences section of the website can’t help but feel emotionally heavy. And when something feels negative to us we tend to, like the song says, turn away. Especially when that negativity is years off and in our fast-paced lives we’re just trying to get through the day. But try to resist turning away from reviewing this information. It’s important to keep our heads above the sand and feel the emotion of what the status quo looks like. It’s also easy to listen to these scenarios and just hear them as words, not fully grasping what the weather events or the economics will feel like. Try to feel what it might be like to live through the supply chain problems of Covid…but with no hope of it changing. Try to imagine what 20% mortgage rates feel like…with no cyclical pattern for them to come down. Try to imagine not being able to get home insurance, or having the federal government have to take over home insurance. Allow yourself a moment to be immersed in this different, but not so distant future, and come back changed, driven, invigorated to do your part to change that future.

Here is a 16 minute video that projects what 3 decrees of warming looks like. While many of the affected areas this video discusses are outside the US, that does not mean the US would not be economically devastated by this level of warming. Wet-bulb temperature is a combined measure of heat and humidity. At 3 degrees global warming, many parts of the southeastern US will have wet-bulb temperatures that would cancel out the human body’s ability to cool itself by sweating, even if given unlimited shade and water. What would be the effects of people not being able to work outdoors? This would not only increase heat related deaths, but without major upgrades to HVAC systems and infrastructure, a 3°C rise would cause significant challenges for cooling in the Southeast and the energy demand would greatly increase…exacerbating the problem.

The truth is, even a 2-degree rise in global temperature could profoundly disrupt life as we know it—not just for us, but for the plants and animals we rely on. The list of known impacts of warming is already long, but what’s worse is that there will surely be consequences we haven’t yet contemplated—unknown changes that, on their own, have the potential to be economically devastating.

Here’s a short 4 minute video from a local news station in California discussing Jerome Powell’s comments in February 2025 regarding the future of homeowners insurance and mortgages due to climate change.

To truly understand the consequences of climate change, we have to realize how amazingly stable the planet has been since we humans have been around. The biggest concern scientists have is that we humans are warming the planet to the point that it continues to warm on it’s own…even if we were to drawdown the carbon we have already put in the atmosphere back to preindustrial levels (which we are not even close to being able to do).
Here some of the devastating scenarios that are possible, even in our lifetimes, that innovations and technology won’t be able to stop or put back.

Click Here For Scenarios

Final Thoughts: What makes these worst-case scenarios “likely?”

They are plausible but avoidable, depending on:
Whether emissions peak and fall soon (e.g. under Paris Agreement targets)
The presence (or absence) of global cooperation and climate adaptation
How fast feedback loops (i.e. self warming) kicks in and how severe they are
Social, economic and political responses to this compounding crises

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The Full Story

Extreme Weather & Insurance Risks

More heat = more energy = heavier rainfall
MPR Angela Davis podcast (July 2) discusses how warming air holds more water, leading to increased storms and flooding.
What if Florida became uninsurable?
If major coastal states could no longer obtain property insurance, no one would rebuild, and the construction industry would collapse.
The rising cost of insurance premiums
Homeowners already face significant increases in rates. What happens when people can’t afford coverage at all?
"Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to a storm so intense that you actually get scared. So scared that you wake everyone up and go down to the basement under the stairs. Maybe that storm takes off a couple of shingles. Maybe it breaks a window and causes some water damage. But what if it does much more damage? And what if these storms happen 6 or 7 times a year?"
"Let that fear sink in for a moment. How would that affect your life? What if instead of your home insurance going up by $1000 in one year, you couldn’t get insurance at all? Would you still live in a big house where you risked your life savings on every storm that passed by?"
"What inconveniences or even major lifestyle changes are coming to all of us? And if/when those changes come, what inconveniences or major lifestyle changes would we have wished we’d have made back when we could have made them?"
"What if all the Gulf Coast and East Coast states couldn’t be insured anymore? Or even just the state of Florida? No one would rebuild anything. The construction industry would move out completely. How would that change things even up here in MN?"

Biodiversity & Habitat Destruction

91% of Amazon deforestation is due to livestock farming.
The destruction of forests releases carbon into the atmosphere, worsening climate change.
Coral reefs are dying at an alarming rate.
One-third of the world's coral reefs have already died, and 90% could disappear within decades.
Wildlife displacement and extinction
Entire ecosystems are collapsing due to rising temperatures, habitat loss, and human expansion.
The 6th mass extinction is happening right now, driven by human activity.

The Role of Animal Agriculture in Climate Change

Eating Our Way to Extinction (Free on Prime) – A must-watch documentary on how livestock agriculture is one of the biggest contributors to climate change.
🎥 Show clip at the very beginning about how livestock farming is accelerating climate change.
⏳ Minute 14:10 – How greenhouse gas emissions from the top five livestock corporations compare to major oil companies.
⏳ Minute 14:55 – How the lobbying industry protects industrial agriculture.

Economic & Social Instability

COVID-19 supply chain disruptions were just a preview.
Climate disasters will exacerbate food shortages, shipping delays, and resource scarcity
Effects of Climate Change—Covid was an example of the supply chain issues we will likely face, except permanent environmental change would likely greatly exacerbate the production issues we saw during Covid over a longer period of time
Inflation and food prices will skyrocket.
Climate-related crop failures will cause inflation far worse than what we saw during COVID.
“If 8% inflation sent our world’s economy into a tailspin, consider the level of inflation when crop harvests are decimated by droughts and flooding.”
Water shortages will lead to geopolitical conflict.
Major regions of water reserves are being depleted, increasing the risk of conflict over resources.
“Then there’s the economic impact of major regions of water reserves being depleted.”

Historical Perspective: What Has Changed?

In the early 90s, deforestation and species conservation were the main concerns.
Today, we face global climate destabilization on an unprecedented scale.
What was once considered extreme environmental activism is now widely accepted scientific consensus.
"We used to believe that deforestation was just about saving a single species of owl. Now, we understand that the destruction of forests is destroying the planet's ability to regulate carbon and maintain biodiversity."
The Cost of Inaction"
“The cost of action is dwarfed by the cost of inaction!”
“Tired of hearing or thinking about climate change? You haven’t seen anything yet. It’s going to become the ONLY thing we hear about.”
“Our failure to address Climate Change isn’t due to the world’s governments failing to enact laws—it’s due to our failure to assemble and make them.”
“Our belief that ‘someone else will figure it out’ is what’s stopping progress.”

The Human Toll of Climate Change

Displacement and Climate Refugees
Rising sea levels and extreme weather events are already forcing millions to flee their homes.
Heatwaves are becoming deadly.
Cities are experiencing record-breaking temperatures, putting vulnerable populations at risk.
Major economic hubs are at risk.
What happens when coastal cities like New York or Miami become uninhabitable?
"We don’t have to imagine what the consequences of climate change look like. We are already seeing them unfold in real time."

Final Thoughts & Call to Action

Climate change isn’t a future problem—it’s happening now.
The economic, social, and environmental consequences will only worsen without immediate action.
We have already lost critical ecosystems, but we still have time to prevent the worst-case scenarios.
"If we don’t act now, we will regret it later. The best time to change course is today."

As an example of how climate change is starting to affect our everyday lives more and more, in 2024, Zillow added Climate Risk evaluations to every property in their database across the country. This screenshot from a property in Minnesota shows low risk factors, which is why the Midwest is projected to be a top recipient of climate migration.