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ESG & Investing

US Spending on Climate Damage Nears $1 Trillion Per Year

The bill for impacts from rising temperatures exceeded 3% of US GDP, according to a new analysis by Bloomberg Intelligence. 

A restaurant damaged by hurricanes Helene and Milton in St. Pete Beach, Florida, on Oct. 11, 2024. 

Photographer: Tristan Wheelock/Bloomberg

Takeaways by Bloomberg AI

The US has spent nearly $1 trillion on disaster recovery and other climate-related needs over the 12 months ending May 1, according to an analysis released Monday by Bloomberg Intelligence. That’s 3% of GDP that people likely would have spent on goods and services they’d prefer to have, and amounts to “a stealth tariff on consumer spending,” analysts write.

Hurricane Helene struck Florida in late September 2024 as the most powerful storm ever to hit the state’s panhandle. Its rampage was followed a week and a half later by Hurricane Milton. Those two storms caused $113 billion in damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Los Angeles fires in January added another $65 billion to the national total.