Quantifying the Impacts of Weather and Climate

Challenge

The impact of weather on the US economy is large, but difficult to measure.

Solution

U.S. Economic Sensitivity to Weather Variability – A 2011 economic study by Jeff Lazo et al. indicated that the inter-annual aggregate dollar variation in U.S. economic activity that is attributable to weather variability could be 3.4%, or $485 billion of the 2008 gross domestic product.

Benefits

From very local short-term decisions about whether or not to pour concrete to broader decisions of when to plant or harvest a field, this report demonstrates how weather can have positive or negative effects on economic activity.

Contact

Please direct questions/comments about this page to:

Branko Kosovic

Director, Weather Systems Assessment Program

email