Economics and climate change

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 62. Chapters: Biorecro, Carbon neutral fuel, Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, Climate Capitalism, Climate change, industry and society, Climate change mitigation scenarios, Climate change scenario, Climate Investment Funds, Dorjee Sun, Ecoflation, Economics of climate change mitigation, Economics of global warming, Economic impacts of climate change, Emissions Reduction Currency System, Emissions trading, Fee and dividend, Green paradox, High Level Advisory Group on Climate Financing, Low-carbon economy, Marginal abatement cost, Stern Review, The Hartwell Paper. Excerpt: There are a number of policies which governments might consider in response to global warming. The economics of global warming involves an assessment of these policies. Global warming is a long-term problem. One of the most important greenhouse gases is carbon dioxide. Around 20% of carbon dioxide which is emitted due to human activities can remain in the atmosphere for many thousands of years. The long time-scales and uncertainty associated with global warming has led analysts to develop "scenarios" of future environmental, social and economic changes. These scenarios can help governments understand the potential consequences of their decisions. The impacts of climate change include the loss of biodiversity, sea level rise, increased frequency and severity of some extreme weather events, and acidification of the oceans. Economists have attempted to quantify these impacts in monetary terms, but these assessments can be controversial. The two main policy responses to global warming are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (climate change mitigation) and adaptation to the impacts of global warming (e.g., by building levees in response to sea level rise). Another policy response which has recently received greater attention is geoengineering of the climate system (e.g. injecting aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from the Earth's surface). One of the responses to the uncertainties of global warming is to adopt a strategy of sequential decision making. This strategy recognizes that decisions on global warming need to be made with incomplete information, and that decisions in the near-term will have potentially long-term impacts. Governments might choose to use risk management as part of their policy response to global warming. For instance, a risk-based approach can be applied to climate impacts which are difficult to quantify in economic terms, e.g., the impacts of global warming on indigenous peoples. Analysts have assessed global warming in relation