Why it’s time to prepare for the worst on climate change | opinion
We cannot predict how extensive climate change will turn out to be over the coming decades, nor can we predict its economic and social impact. But we must be prepared for the worst, and begin to invest now in adaptation.
Even optimistic projections show global emissions continuing to rise over the next decade before falling only gradually. CO₂ remains in the atmosphere for centuries so, even with reduced emissions today, the atmospheric CO₂ concentration will continue to rise, pushing temperatures up. We must cut emissions, but we should do so as efficiently as possible. “Efficiently” means at lowest cost, and study after study has shown that the lowest-cost way to reduce emissions is by imposing a carbon tax. Asimply increases the cost of burning carbon so that it covers the resulting environmental damage.
But emissions reduction by itself is not sufficient. Even a substantial reduction is unlikely to be enough to prevent a significant rise in temperature. Therefore, we must begin now to invest in adaptation to climate change, in order to counter its possible impact.
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