Leaders | A $25trn hit

Global warming is coming for your home

Who will pay for the damage?

A single house perched on a rocky outcrop being hit by waves
image: Owen Gent

Think about the places vulnerable to climate change, and you might picture rice paddies in Bangladesh or low-lying islands in the Pacific. But another, more surprising answer ought to be your own house. About a tenth of the world’s residential property by value is under threat from global warming—including many houses that are nowhere near the coast. From tornadoes battering midwestern American suburbs to tennis-ball-size hailstones smashing the roofs of Italian villas, the severe weather brought about by greenhouse-gas emissions is shaking the foundations of the world’s most important asset class.

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The next housing disaster”

From the April 13th 2024 edition

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