Natural disasters in US cost $178bn ‘last year alone’, Joe Biden says

Joe Biden stressed the importance of taking climate change seriously as he spoke alongside the release of the Fifth National Climate Assessment.

The president took aim at Republican leaders who continue to deny climate change, pointing out that its effects cost the US $178bn last year.

“Anyone who wilfully denies the impact of climate change is condemning the American people to a very dangerous future. The impacts we’re seeing are only gonna get worse, more frequent, more ferocious, and more costly.” Biden said.

“They hit everyone no matter what their circumstances, but they hit the most vulnerable the hardest.”