Responding to Threats of Climate Change Mega-Catastrophes

Richard Zeckhauser, Carolyn Kousky, Olga V Rostapshova and Michael Toman ()

Scholarly Articles from Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Abstract: There is a low but uncertain probability that climate change could trigger “mega-catastrophes,†severe and at least partly irreversible adverse effects across broad regions. This paper first discusses the state of current knowledge and the defining characteristics of potential climate change mega-catastrophes. While some of these characteristics present difficulties for using standard rational choice methods to evaluate response options, there is still a need to balance the benefits and costs of different possible responses with appropriate attention to the uncertainties. To that end, we present a qualitative analysis of three options for mitigating the risk of climate mega-catastrophes—drastic abatement of greenhouse gas emissions, development and implementation of geoengineering, and large-scale ex ante adaptation— against the criteria of efficacy, cost, robustness, and flexibility. We discuss the composition of a sound portfolio of initial investments in reducing the risk of climate change mega-catastrophes.

Date: 2010
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Published in HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series

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Related works:
Working Paper: Responding to Threats of Climate Change Mega-Catastrophes (2010)
Working Paper: Responding to Threats of Climate Change Mega-Catastrophes (2009)
Working Paper: Responding to threats of climate change mega-catastrophes (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hrv:hksfac:4454155

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