Steyer, along with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and past Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, issued the 65-page analysis on California as the third in a series of studies calculating the costs of inaction on climate.
"From Boom to Bust? Climate Risk in the Golden State" looked at warming's effects on major businesses that include agriculture, manufacturing and tourism. California crops, which are shipped nationwide and overseas, could see production declines because of heat and drought, the report said.
Californians by the end of the century will live in a much hotter place, it said. There likely will be two to three times as many days with temperatures exceeding 95 degrees Fahrenheit than have occurred annually over the past 30 years. That could contribute to nearly 7,700 additional heat-related deaths per year by late in the century, more than twice the average number of traffic deaths annually in the state today, it said.
"Climate change is an urgent threat -- one which the people of California are already experiencing firsthand," Steyer said in a statement. "The Risky Business report puts the costs of inaction on climate change in a framework that our state's businesses can understand and utilize to mitigate risk and make good choices for California's communities and economy."
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Although it's focused on California, the report noted that there are broader implications from events in the Golden State. In 2012, it said, California produced one-fifth of the nation's supply of dairy, nearly two-thirds of its fruits and nuts, and over a third of its vegetables. The state is the sole U.S. grower of almonds, artichokes, dates, grapes, pistachios, plums, pomegranates and walnuts.
"Overall, the state's 80,500 farms directly employed roughly half a million people at harvest time and generated nearly $45 billion in output in 2012, as well as supporting at least $100 billion in related economic activity," it said. "California's agricultural productivity is inextricably tied to climate conditions, and the industry's success is of critical importance to the state, the nation, and the world."
California houses more Standard & Poor's 500 index companies than any other state, the report said, leads the nation in venture capital and has the world's eighth-largest economy.
"Climate change -- and the resulting high temperatures, volatile precipitation patterns, and rising sea levels -- may put California's competitiveness at risk," the report said.
Read more at Steyer Group Forecasts Rising Tide of Natural, Economic Misery in Calif.
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