July 24, 2013
By: Gail Whiteman, Chris Hope and Peter Wadhams
Vast costs of Arctic change

Pipes transport oil from rigs on Endicott Island in Alaska. Photo: B&C Alexander/Articphoto
The global impacts of a warming Arctic could carry a price tag comparable to the size of the global economy in 2012, according to a Comment piece in this week's Nature.
Unlike the loss of sea ice, the vulner-ability of polar bears and the risinghuman population, the economicimpacts of a warming Arctic are beingignored.Most economic discussion so far assumesthat opening up the region will be beneficial.The Arctic is thought to be home to 30% ofthe world’s undiscovered gas and 13% of itsundiscovered oil, and new polar shippingroutes would increase regional trade. The insurance market Lloyd’s of London esti-mates that investment in the Arctic couldreach US$100 billion within ten years.
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