It’s pretty easy to imagine or extrapolate the catastrophic
costs of an extreme weather event such as a hurricane, tornado
or even a blizzard. But even the most mundane, average weather
patterns can be a drag across the entire economy not just the
agricultural sector. That’s the initial finding of a new study
led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The
influence of routine weather changes can impact as much as 3.4
percent of the economy, including financial services,
manufacturing and other sectors. That’s roughly $485 billion, if
you use the 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) figures of $14.4
trillion. Weather can have actual and psychological affects on
the business world. In the Northeast, for example, retailers
quake in terror when snow comes during the Thanksgiving weekend
because fewer people go out and shop. Snowstorms could mess up
tourism — and the airlines — like they did last year when a
blizzard slammed the New York region the day after Christmas.
Farms watch the weather closely