June 8, 2024

The financial repercussions of climate change on Generation Alpha threaten to be far costlier than new parents may realize and show no sign of improving anytime soon. In April 2024, climate reporter Annie Nova launched a series of articles for CNBC exploring the financial toll our warming planet stands to take on current and future generations. As temperatures continue to climb and the rate of extreme weather events increases, financial hardship is in turn expected to affect more and more of the world’s population. The Fifth National U.S. Climate Assessment warns that each additional degree of warming will further amplify losses and predicts that Americans born in 2024 will pay an extra $500,000 in their lifetimes due to higher taxes and an increase in the costs of housing, food, and health care. The term “climateflation” is gaining currency as a way for economists to describe this confluence of problems. Food inflation is projected to rise a whopping 3% each year in the upcoming decade. Climate change also threatens housing security with a reported three million Americans already displaced by disaster, and home insurance rates surging in disaster-prone areas. Currently, only 40% of costs caused by natural catastrophes are covered by insurers. IN 2023, the Swiss Re Institute reported that natural catastrophes cost insurers $108 billion, or $19 billion more than the annual average over the past 10 years. Health risks have also heightened due to the warming planet. The Natural Resources Defense Council found that air pollution, heat waves, and hurricanes have brought health care costs up to over $800 billion a year in the U.S. Additionally, workers may see their wages reduced as businesses and communities are more frequently disrupted by extreme weather events. Such scenarios put tens of millions of jobs at risk globally, particularly in industries vulnerable to climate-related health risks. The cherry on top is that, according to ICF, global warming could pose a threat to retirement savings through multiple channels. All of this is prompting shifts in workforce and education systems away from at-risk fields and towards opportunities for innovation and economic prosperity such as climate science.