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Barclays Says Climate Disaster Will Collapse Major Currencies

  • Analysts model impact of global warming on FX markets
  • Study shows yen and yuan may fall 50% in worst-case scenario
A tractor cuts down corn in a field designated as zero yield on a farm near Terre Haute, Indiana, in 2012. 

A tractor cuts down corn in a field designated as zero yield on a farm near Terre Haute, Indiana, in 2012. 

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

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A severe climate shock in the next 50 years will wreak havoc on the global economy and upend currency markets as we know them, according to a new study by Barclays Plc. 

Analysts at the bank have published a model of emissions scenarios, along with predictions for how foreign exchange markets will be affected. In the most extreme case, they predict the Chinese yuan and Japanese yen could drop by more than 50% by 2070 because of the economic toll stemming from rising sea levels, air pollution and crop failure.