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for a short duration, the long-term effects are nothing short of disastrous. In Climate Change Economics, Nordhaus agrees with Stern in that due to global warming, 8.7% increase in wind speed can be expected which will cause an increased damage by 113%. This is likely to cost the United States an additional 10 billion US dollars in annual hurricane costs (Nordhaus, Climate Change Economics, 2010)
Figure 1: Predicted outcomes of the business- as- usual approach to climate change. [Adapted from the Stern Review, 2006]
In 2007 the United Kingdom faced one of the most devastating floods in its history. The British Parliament then mandated Sir Michael Pitts to conduct an independent review of the 2007 floods. It is revealed from this study that the floods caused damage upon 55,000 properties around the UK. Due to disruption of the Mythe water treatment plant, approximately 350,000 people without drinkable water for up to two weeks. Although there are disputes as to whether the floods were directly related to global warming, it is agreed that they were an anomaly in the British climate.
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