Recent study shows U.S. emissions lead the world in worldwide gross domestic product losses

A study conducted by Dartmouth College shows the devastating economic effects major polluting countries like the U.S. have on the entire planet. According to the study, published in the journal Climate Change on Tuesday, the U.S. leads the world in emission-based gross domestic product losses for 143 countries between the years of 1990 and 2014, totaling $1.9 trillion. China was not far behind with worldwide GDP losses totaling just under $1.9 trillion. Grist noted that the two countries alone account for nearly one-third of GDP losses caused by emissions. The study authors themselves see this data as useful information to help countries impacted by large polluters like the U.S. pursue climate liability claims.

“Greenhouse gases emitted in one country cause warming in another, and that warming can depress economic growth,” assistant professor Justin Mankin, who teaches geography and served as a senior researcher for the study, said in a press release. “This research provides legally valuable estimates of the financial damages individual nations have suffered due to other countries’ climate-changing activities.” In addition to potentially costing the U.S. substantial sums in climate change litigation, U.S. emissions are also hurting the country domestically. Stanford University found that air pollution alone led to a 5% drop in the country’s GDP in the year 2014, accounting for a loss of $790 billion. That’s just $10 billion shy of the figure U.N. climate scientists believe is necessary to spend on combatting climate change and giving the world a fighting chance against it.