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Reports about the melting ice caps are distressing, but for the most part climate change remains abstract. The poor polar bear has been trotted out as the tangible face of global warming so often that we're beginning to see "polar bear fatigue." How about bringing the effects of Arctic...
Of course, grappling with something as vastly complex as climate science involves plenty of uncertainties: What threshold represents a tipping point, after which changes accelerate? What are the chances of some unforeseen catastrophic event? What measures might come into play that limit CO2 emissions and thus mitigate climate change? And...
Turns out, this last question is a matter of great debate. Typically the province of economists wielding formulas too esoteric for most of us to follow, the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC) is currently under discussion by the EPA and other regulatory agencies. The figure they choose has huge implications...
"The idea is that if we have a number, we can compare the costs and benefits of efforts to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere," says Frank Ackerman, PhD, an economist specializing in climate change at the Stockholm Environment Institute's center at Tufts University. "If, say, we value CO2 damages...
Rather than letting the unknowns paralyze us, Ackerman suggests looking at the potential costs of climate change differently. "You don't buy fire insurance on your house because you think it's going to burn down, but because you're not completely sure that it won't," he says. He...