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Study: US emissions since 1990 caused more than $10 trillion in global economic damage
A Nature study led by Stanford researchers calculates that US emissions since 1990 caused over $10 trillion in global economic damage, hitting Europe and developing countries hard and warning of much larger future costs if greenhouse gases are not removed.
Mar 26th 2026 · United States
Insights
- Nature study finds US greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 inflicted over $10 trillion in global GDP losses by 2020.
- About $3 trillion of that damage fell within the United States itself.
- Europe suffered roughly $1.4 trillion in losses, while EU weather and climate events cost more than €783 billion from 1980 to 2023.
- Brazil and India incurred estimated hits of $330 billion and $500 billion respectively from US-linked emissions.
- Emissions tied to Saudi Aramco oil from 1988 to 2015 caused about $3 trillion in global damage by 2020 and could reach $64 trillion by 2100 if not removed.
- Researchers call the estimates conservative because they exclude non-GDP harms such as biodiversity loss and cultural damage.
- The study compares emissions to unpaid garbage bills and warns that if a tonne of CO2 remains in the atmosphere for 25 years before removal, roughly half of its damage is already done.