Climate Change and Economic Impacts - Mark Stemen

​Budget pressures and the changing job market will impact the nature of higher education both in California and across the nation. Climate disasters—fires, floods and deadly heat waves—will hit the state hard and disrupt the economy. Natural disasters in 2017 cost the state over $20 billion.[1]  Researchers at UC, Berkeley write that California can expect to lose 1 percent of its annual economic output for every 1-degree Celsius increase in average temperature.  Inland counties will see greater disruption than coastal counties. Economic activity in Butte County is projected contract between 4 and 6 percent a year for every 1-degree Celsius increase. By 2037, Cal-Adapt projects temperatures in Chico will be four degrees Fahrenheit (2.2 degrees Celsius) warmer than the historical average, translating into a potential 12% loss in local economic output by 2037.[2]
One result of the economic downturn is that fewer students will be able to afford the exorbitant cost of attending college. Declining enrollments will create a critical period of reorganization in Academic Affairs.  Studies show that “updates to curricula across a diverse range of disciplines will be key to addressing climate adaptation.”[3] The coming emergencies will soon require society to view every decision through the lens of climate change. Those departments that are unable to incorporate climate adaptation education into their majors will slowly be eliminated as the remaining students “vote with their feet” and move to other disciplines. In other words, graduates who understand the impacts of climate change and are trained in how to respond to them will be high in demand in communities across the state.
[1] https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events/CA/2017
[2] Solomon Hsiang, et. al. “Estimating economic damage from climate change in the United States,” Science 356 (6345), 1362-1369.
​[3] Higher Education’s Role in Adapting to a Changing Climate