A study published Tuesday by UC Berkeley professors concluded that unmitigated climate change will reduce the average person’s income by 23 percent and increase the global inequality gap by 2100. (Emphasis added)

The researchers conducted the study by comparing economic data from the World Bank with climatological data and then analyzing it using econometric processes. According to the study’s estimate, 77 percent of countries will become poorer than they would have been without climate change.

The study was led by UC Berkeley associate professor of public policy Solomon Hsiang, campus professor of environmental and resource economics edward Miguel, and Stanford University assistant professor of earth system science Marshall Burke.

The research team also found that climate change will increase the global inequality gap, with the poorest 40 percent of countries experiencing a reduction in income by nearly 75 percent by 2100. Researchers found that because poorer countries tend to be warmer, they are more negatively affected by increasing temperatures. Richer, colder countries, on the other hand, may experience slight increases in productivity.

“(Climate change) is causing major trauma for almost half the world’s population that’s much poorer than we are. … We should know that’s what these actions are doing,” Hsiang said.

The team […]