Who Benefits From Global Warming?

Temperatures have risen significantly globally, however, the impact of global warming isn't really the same for everyone. Over the past several years, climate change has done more than causing irreparable damage to the environment. It has also caused the financial gap between the rich and the poor to become wider than it has previously been.

A new study reveals, the inequalities between countries has dragged the poor to their poorest state, while the rich received a boost of prosperity. The data shows that the gap between the rich and the poor is about 25 percent larger today than it would have been in the absence of global warming. The study was conducted by researchers from the Stanford University from California.

Countries in the African region have had the hardest hit. The GDP of Nigeria and Mauritania would have been higher by as much as 40 percent if not for the continuous rise in temperatures. On the other hand, according to studies published in the journal of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, global warming seems to have added to the GDP of the more industrialized nations. The biggest contributors of greenhouse gases seem to be receiving as much profit as the greenhouse gases they emit.

"We have analyzed the data concerning the relationship between temperature and the economic fluctuations experienced by both developing and industrialized countries in the world from 1961 to 2010," said Professor Marshall Burke of the Department of Earth System and Sciences from the Stanford University. "The data shows that the crops become more productive when they grow in temperatures that are neither too hot nor too cold. In turn, people become more happier and healthier too," he added.

However, he emphasized that their study also saw how the industrialized countries seem to be reaping the "warm benefits" that come from global warming, while less industrialized countries have been given "warm penalties" by experiencing warmer climates that make it hard for them to grow their crops or raise their cattle. There are evidences that the labor force declines when temperatures rise, and their cognitive performances have seen a decline as well. Sadly, in these situations, interpersonal conflict become more rampant.