Romania to suffer a loss of 1.5% of GDP due to extreme heatwave, experts predict
The impact of natural disasters such as heatwaves, hurricanes and sudden rises in sea levels amounts to a loss of global economic performance on average between 1-3% of GDP, an analysis by British consultancy Cambridge Econometrics found.
The analysis, which spanned more than two decades, highlights droughts and floods as the most likely natural disasters causing economic damage in countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Romania and Hungary are expected to lose 1.5% and 1% of their GDP, respectively, from the effects of heatwaves.
In the southern part of Europe, economic damages from droughts alone totaling EUR 5 to EUR 6 billion per year are likely to incurred based on expectations for average global warming of 1.5 Celsius degrees.
"Extreme heat is becoming unbearable for workers, impacting construction and transport in a growing extent," Dóra Fazekas, managing director of Cambridge Econometrics Hungary, said. "Low water levels of major rivers and lakes cause a halt in water transport, energy production, and other industrial activities, and problems tend to occur more often in residential drinking water supplies."
During the analysis period, which tracked economic damages caused by natural disasters since 1995, European Union countries have lost EUR 77 billion, both directly (EUR 44 billion) and indirectly (EUR 33 billion).
(Photo: Marko Bukorovic/ Dreamstime)
