What happened to the global economy?

Climate warming will trigger a global economic crisis, and climate change may devour 20% of global GDP every year. The 2007 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum is being held in full swing in Davos. Economists and scholars attending the meeting generally believe that the world economy will maintain rapid growth this year. They also pay close attention to the impact of global warming. According to the report released by the World Economic Forum, climate change is one of the most serious challenges facing the world in the 2 1 century. Natural disasters caused by global warming may lead to large-scale population migration, energy shortage and economic and political turmoil in some areas in the next few years. Experts pointed out that multinational cooperation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be the main task of governments in the coming decades. The government should formulate new and stricter standards to control greenhouse gas emissions, and the market should take measures to support the promotion of clean energy and clean technology. Climate warming cannot be ignored. The report "Global Risk 2007" recently released by the World Economic Forum says that climate change is impermanent due to many factors. At the same time, the impacts of climate change and related storms, water shortage and sea level rise are not limited to the environmental field. According to the report, although people's risk awareness has been increasing, the main risks facing the world in the past year have shown signs of intensification. In order to effectively deal with all kinds of complex risks facing the world, in addition to taking relevant measures, it is necessary to further improve relevant systems. The latest draft assessment report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently pointed out that if human beings do not pay attention to environmental protection, the greenhouse effect will intensify and the average temperature of the earth will rise. By the end of this century, the average temperature is expected to rise by 6.3 degrees Celsius at most. If human beings attach importance to environmental protection and change the mass consumption-oriented life relying on fossil fuels, the temperature rise can be controlled within 1 Celsius. At present, the average temperature of the earth's oceans and land is about 15 degrees Celsius. According to the draft assessment report, during the period from 1906 to 100 in 2005, the average temperature of the earth increased by 0.56 to 0.92 degrees Celsius, which was higher than the temperature increase of 0.4 to 0.8 degrees Celsius estimated in the 5438+0 assessment report in 2006. Experts believe that this is the result of the increase in average temperature after the 1990s. If the average temperature rises by 3 degrees Celsius, more than 7 million people in Asia will face floods every year, and more than 654.38 billion people in the world will face the dilemma of food shortage; If it rises by 4 degrees Celsius, more than 3 billion people in the world will face the problem of water shortage, the number of heat waves in North America will increase by three to eight times, and the Arctic sea ice will decrease by 35%. Sir Nicholas, a former World Bank economist, was commissioned by the British Secretary of Resources to draft a 700-page research report. The report makes a comprehensive economic analysis of global climate problems, and calculates that if human beings allow the global temperature to continue to rise, the ultimate harm caused by climate change may be equivalent to the loss of 20% of global GDP every year. The report points out that climate change will plunge the world into the worst economic recession, the cost will exceed the sum of the two world wars, and millions of people will be displaced. The report warns that global action is urgently needed to increase investment. Sir Nicholas predicts that the global "catastrophic" economic recession will be triggered by climate warming, and the estimated cost will exceed 5.5 trillion euros. He pointed out that if climate warming cannot be effectively controlled, it will trigger a serious economic recession on a global scale. He suggested that every country should spend 1% of GDP on environmental protection to prevent disasters. But if nothing is done, the cost will be 5 to 20 times that of the former. Abnormal climate endangers European and American economies. For some time, global warming has affected the economies of many countries in Europe and America. Since last winter, the climate in the United States has been very abnormal, and industries that make money from cold weather are complaining. However, due to poor snowfall, many resorts and ski resorts in the Alps were forced to close, which greatly affected the local finances. Officials in New Jersey said that last year was the second hottest year on record in the state and the hottest year since11. The warm winter weather in New Jersey makes the heavy winter clothes on the streets almost extinct. The unusually warm temperatures in the eastern United States have reduced the demand for heating oil, which is one of the factors leading to the decline in gasoline prices. Due to the warmer weather, the stocks of gasoline, fuel oil and diesel oil all increased, and the oil prices in new york and London, the two major exchanges in the world, fell sharply in June 5438+ 10. According to the report of the United Nations Economic Cooperation Organization, 165438+ 10 in many areas of the Alps last year was the warmest month on record, and the first snow was several weeks later than in previous years, which worried skiers. Tourism is an important pillar of the economy of Alpine countries. Every year, there are as many as 60 million to 80 million tourists visiting France, Austria, Switzerland and Germany, and as many as 65.438+600 million tourists attending the Ski Festival. The research on the influence of some countries shows that Germany is at the top of the risk, that is, for every increase of 1 Celsius, the skiing reliability of ski resorts will decrease by 60%; Winter tourism in Austria accounts for 4.5% of the national economy or half of the tourism revenue every year, and its influence is slightly greater than the average level; France is at the average level; Italy is slightly above average; Every time the temperature in Switzerland rises by 1 Celsius, the natural snowfall decreases by 10%. When the temperature rises by 4 degrees Celsius, the skiing safety of ski resorts will be reduced by half. Europe, which is more concerned about climate change, has launched a "new industrial revolution" with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions on the European continent by 20%. Barroso, President of the European Commission, said that the policy aims to reduce energy use and dependence on imported oil and natural gas, and make the EU stand at the forefront in energy efficiency and renewable energy utilization. According to a poll conducted by the Financial Times at the end of last year, the vast majority of Europeans believe that human activities are causing global warming, and most people are willing to limit their lifestyles to counter the trend of global warming. The survey conducted a series of surveys in Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Spain, and found that 86% people think that human activities have caused climate change, while 45% people think that climate change will threaten themselves and their families in their lives. 68% of people said that in order to reduce this threat, they would strongly support (or to some extent support) the restrictions on human behavior and related investments. This week, 65,438+00 major American companies, including Alcoa, General Electric and Lehman Brothers, also put pressure on President Bush to take more active action on climate change. They will urge President Bush to adopt a mandatory system to limit greenhouse gas emissions in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30% in the next 15 years. Bush also signed an executive order on the 24th, urging all departments of the federal government to take various measures to play a "leading and demonstrating" role in energy conservation. According to this order, the federal government of the United States will do a good job in energy conservation in many aspects. For example, in terms of government cars, gasoline consumption will be reduced by 2% every year, while alternative fuel consumption will increase by 65,438+00% every year. When buying new cars, hybrid vehicles will be given priority. In addition, in the government's energy consumption, the use of renewable energy such as solar energy, wind energy and geothermal energy will greatly increase. The federal government of the United States will also vigorously improve energy efficiency, purchase environmentally friendly and more efficient electronic and electrical products, and promote more energy-efficient green buildings. The White House said in a statement that the federal government is the largest energy buyer and user in the United States, and Bush's executive order will help protect the American environment and meet the challenge of global warming. Source:/a/20070128/000033.htm.