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Draft UN Report: Global Warming Could Cost $1.45 Trillion

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carbon dioxide, pollution, climate change

The effects of global warming could cost the world $1.45 trillion in economic damages, with the planet's crop production projected to decline up to two percent every decade, according to news coverage of a new UN report.

The new figures were detailed in a draft of an upcoming report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which will be publicly released later this month during a meeting in Yokohama, Japan, reported The Economic Times. The IPCC was established by the United Nations in 1988 to examine the most recent published and peer-reviewed research on global warming and prepare comprehensive reports on the risks and impacts of climate change.

In addition to declining crop production, global warming could intensify the threat of floods, droughts, rising sea levels and stifling heat waves, according to the draft report. "To steer humanity out of the high danger zone, governments must step up immediate climate action and craft an agreement in 2015," said UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, according to the Economic Times.

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Denise Chow
Denise Chow
Live Science Contributor

Denise Chow was the assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. Before joining the Live Science team in 2013, she spent two years as a staff writer for Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering NASA's final three space shuttle missions. A Canadian transplant, Denise has a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, and a master's degree in journalism from New York University.