When a Pew Research Center study highlighted the fact that a large percentage of people don’t believe humans were to blame for climate change – and nearly 20% said there is no statistical evidence of climate change – and while it is hard to blame people for not trusting media – this might have benchmarked a moment in history from several standpoints.

Not only did it point to the trend of statistical facts playing a less important role in society, but it highlighted an avoidance of an issue that, to address, required mass sacrifice. But while the general population appears avoiding the tough issue, those with money in the game are taking a different tact. A recent Moody’s report benchmarks the point in history by noting the impact on state and local bond issuers, pointing to a financial planning that considers the trend of climate change with a focus on one of the hot themes of investing which we profiled earlier today, water supplies and droughts.

Moody’s breaks down financial risk from climate change into slow and fast moving categories

The trend of climate change is well documented in statistics, and Moody’s thinks understanding where it leads should be of concern to bondholders in the regions most impacted.

“Credit risks resulting from climate change are embedded in our existing approach to analyzing the key credit factors in our methodologies,” Moody’s analyst Michael Wertz and his team wrote in a November 28 report. “Our analysis of economic strength and diversity, which signals the speed with which an economy may recover, captures climate-driven credit risks such as economic disruption, physical damage, health and public safety, and population displacement.”

There are several points of climate change to consider. Moody’s breaks them down into two primary categories: slow moving “climate trends” and the more immediate and unexpected “climate shocks.”

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