Temperature extremes hit economies around the world

Global Business

2014 is shaping up to be one of the hottest on record with temperatures soaring in many parts of the world.

The latest figures show global temperatures are up half a degree Celsius, and that’s leading to calls for countries to do more to stop climate change. As CCTV America’s Owen Fairclough reports, temperature extremes are hitting economies in both developed and emerging countries.

Globally, the first seven months of the year together have been the third warmest since records began, according to U.S. weather scientists. Temperatures were half a degree Celsius above the norm.

In July ocean temperatures were one of the warmest on record, reinforcing concerns coastal cities are at risk of being submerged.

And it’s a growing pattern of extremes. Washington, D.C. is having one of its coolest summers. But the winter was so severe across much of the U.S. it was blamed for turning economic growth negative. The World Bank says unstable weather and global warming hit poorer countries even harder and faster.

Across East Africa, solutions cannot come fast enough. Floods in South Sudan, combined with civil war and ruined crops, have put 14 million people at risk of famine.

Central and northeast China are suffering a brutal drought. Farmers are increasingly worried the most drought resistant crops, like peanuts, are struggling.

Fore more, CCTV America spoke to Paul Bledsoe, the president of Bledsoe & Associates, a strategic public policy firm specializing in tax policy and energy. He’s also a Senior Fellow on Climate Change at the German Marshall Fund.