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Climate change could make US poorer: Study

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WASHINGTON : If the United States fails to take decisive measures to combat climate change, it will become a poorer country facing greater inequality, according to a study published on Thursday.

The poorest third of US counties could see income drops as great as 20 per cent if the trends continue, according to the worst-case projection of the study, published in the journal Science.

A team of climatologists and economists based its findings on economic models and 116 projections of the impact of climate change, just weeks after US President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from the Paris accord for climate change.

His move drew intense criticism, but Mr Trump insisted on Thursday he was "proud" of having withdrawn from the agreement, saying the move would save US jobs.

The study, however, predicts large-scale economic losses and potentially the greatest transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in American history, said Mr Solomon Hsiang, professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. - AFP

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