Two ships sit grounded on a breakwater strewn with debris in Hyogo, Japan, after a typhoon, Sept. 6, 2018. (Credit: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg) — Dangerous, expensive disruptions to shipping and many of the world's roughly 3,700 ports are on the rise along with global temperatures. These events will increasingly threaten the sea routes that convey 80% of traded goods by volume, according to a new analysis published today by the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund.
Encroaching waters and more powerful tropical storms top the list of risks. Although research on climate change's impacts on the shipping industry is scant, catastrophic events in recent years together tell a concerning story, the authors write. Storms have repeatedly cost hundreds of millions or billions of dollars in damage to U.S. ports in the last 15 years. When a port slows down or closes as the result of a storm, backups can increase along supply chains.
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