The Personal Expense of Climate Change
By Ruby Rañoa, Earth Forward Group
Published October 2, 2025
One thing is clear – climate change does not impact everyone equally, but no one is immune.
Climate change has increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, heavy precipitation, flooding, and tropical cyclones.
Your Energy Bill
With hotter summers, we are now using more energy to make ourselves comfortable in our buildings. This has been leading to record high electricity demand surges, which can result in higher energy bills and in some cases, rolling blackouts in states such as California.
High energy bills disproportionately impact our vulnerable communities the most. Low-income households often lack the resources to invest in clean energy generation (e.g., solar panels) and energy efficient upgrades (e.g., energy efficient appliances) that would help them reduce their energy consumption. Without these investments, they use more energy and pay higher energy bills compared to households that could afford the investments.
Your Food
Crops and climate change have a complicated relationship. On one hand, warmer temperatures have led to longer growing seasons and increased precipitation in some areas, which could improve some crop conditions. On the other, heatwaves, drought, wildfires, and storms in some areas can damage crops. Furthermore, increased temperatures can expand the range of insects, weeds, and crop diseases, all harming crop yield.
However, climate change is anticipated to decrease food security overall, while prices rise. The nutritional value of crops, many crop yields, livestock, and fish production are all expected to decline, contributing to worsening food and nutritional security.
Your Water
Did you know that only 0.5% of all water on our planet is usable, available freshwater? Our water is affected by climate change in multitudes of ways—from decreased rainfall and drought to flooding and rising sea levels. Decreased rainfall and drought lead to water scarcity, while flooding and sea level rise can contaminate our water supply with saltwater and/or fecal matter. Warmer temperatures cause the snowpack, accumulated layers of snow that serve as a natural water supply, to melt earlier than usual, creating the potential for seasonal water shortages.
Your Housing
Since 2008, over 376 million people have been displaced by extreme weather and natural disasters, including floods, windstorms, earthquakes, and droughts. This has coined the term “climate refugee”, whether they are displaced within their home or a foreign country.
Simultaneously, increasing construction and housing costs have led to a global housing crisis. This is exacerbated by “climate gentrification”, in which previously less desirable areas are now skyrocketing in price due to their lessened risk of climate hazards. This then displaces the existing residents of that area. For example, many residents are seeking higher-elevation, inland areas due to coastal storms, flooding, and sea level rise in Miami. An estimated one-third of U.S. homes are vulnerable to at least one climate hazard, such as landslides, flooding, and wildfires.
Source: Photo by Caleb Cook on Unsplash
Your Insurance
Climate change is affecting insurance prices and even availability to purchase. We have already seen major insurers either exiting or limiting their business in high-risk states, such as Florida and California. California’s Insurance Commissioner is fighting back, however. As of December 2024, if an insurer wants to do business in the state, they are required to insure wildfire-prone areas, but are allowed to pass along the extra anticipated costs to the consumer.
Your Health
It should be noted that climate change does not affect everyone’s health equally and is heavily dependent on factors such as age, location, and economic status. Overall, climate change is anticipated to harm human health in several ways:
Warmer temperatures can expand the range of insects that spread vector-borne diseases, such as mosquitos, fleas, and ticks, including lyme disease, plague, and dengue fever;
Increasing air pollution (i.e., ground-level ozone and particulate matter) leads to decreased lung function and increased hospital visits, ER visits for asthma, and premature deaths;
Higher temperatures can increase the frequency of waterborne illnesses such as diarrheal diseases;
Extended pollen seasons and increase the concentration of pollen in the air can worsen seasonal allergies and respiratory conditions; and
All of the climate change impacts mentioned above, including extreme weather, heat, job loss, and other factors, are taking a large toll on mental health.
So What Can You Do?
It’s easy to feel hopeless when talking about climate change, but we urge you to control what you can. We’ve included a list of actionable steps you can take to help protect yourself and your household against the effects of climate change:
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Support climate-friendly, water-friendly policies and measures, everywhere from your own community to the federal level.
Lower your energy usage via getting your house weatherized, unplugging devices, and installing energy efficient appliances in your home, if possible.
If you can, invest in clean energy generation (e.g., rooftop solar panels) and battery systems for your home to increase your energy security.
Support organizations and policies related to climate-smart and water-smart farming methods to help potentially increase crop yield and nutritional value.
Support climate-resistant building projects and climate-friendly building retrofit efforts.
Review quotes from multiple insurers, including state-run, last resort insurers such as the California FAIR Plan.
If possible, invest in climate risk mitigation measures in your home, such as fire-resistant building materials, floodproofing, and defensible space landscaping.
To reduce your exposure to air pollution and pollen, use high-efficiency filters with your HVAC system and/or air purifiers in your home.
While no one is immune to the impacts of climate change, we are not powerless. By embracing energy efficiency, climate-smart methods, and resilience measures, we can create a safer, more sustainable world.