Costly effects of warming seas

If greenhouse-gas emissions continue at their current pace, the cost of damage to the world’s oceans could reach $2 trillion a year by the end of the century.

That’s according to a new study by the Stockholm Environment Institute. Titled “Valuing the Ocean,” the study projects that the average global temperature will rise 4 degrees Celsius by 2100, resulting in sea acidification, sea-level rise, marine pollution, species migration, increasingly intense tropical cyclones and the extinction of many species of fish and coral reefs, according to Reuters.

The biggest cost would come from a loss of tourism, amounting to some $639 billion a year.

The study recommended the United Nations appoint a “high commissioner of oceans” to oversee future research and coordinate preventative measures.