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PUBLICATIONID : 14936
PUBLICATIONTYPE : 11
TYPE : Review
TITLE : Mistreatment of the economic impacts of extreme events in the Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change
ORIG_TITLE : Mistreatment of the economic impacts of extreme events in the Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change
AUTHOR : Pielke, R
FIRST_AUTHOR : Pielke, R
AUTHOR_COUNT : 1
ADDRESS : Univ Colorado, Ctr Sci & Technol Policy Res, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
PUBLISHER : ELSEVIER SCI LTD
FIRSTAUTHOREMPLOYER : 1
ABBREV_JOURNAL : Glob. Environ. Change-Human Policy Dimens.
BEGINPAGE : 302
ENDPAGE : 310
VOLUME : 17
ISSUE : 4-Mar
PUBLISH_DATE : AUG-OCT
YEAR : 2007
RESOURCE : WOS:000250322900002
CITATION : 10
DEPT : CSTPR
LAST_UPDATED : 2012-10-11 11:38:32
ISSN : 0959-3780
IDS : 222UM
DOI : 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2007.05.004
ABSTRACT : The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change has focused debate on the costs and benefits of alternative courses of action on climate change. This refocusing has helped to move debate away from science of the climate system and on to issues of policy. However, a careful examination of the Stern Review's treatment of the economics of extreme events in developed countries, such as floods and tropical cyclones, shows that the report is selective in its presentation of relevant impact studies and repeats a common error in impacts studies by confusing sensitivity analyses with projections of future impacts. The Stern Review's treatment of extreme events is misleading because it overestimates the future costs of extreme weather events in developed countries by an order of magnitude. Because the Stern Report extends these findings globally, the overestimate propagates through the report's estimate of future global losses. When extreme events are viewed more comprehensively the resulting perspective can be used to expand the scope of choice available to decision makers seeking to grapple with future disasters in the context of climate change. In particular, a more comprehensive analysis underscores the importance of adaptation in any comprehensive portfolio of responses to climate change. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
KEYWORDS : climate change; Stern Review; extreme events
AREA : Environmental Sciences & Ecology; Geography
FIRST_AUTHOR_EMAIL : pielke@cires.colorado.edu
PUBLICATION : GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS
PLACE : OXFORD
LANGUAGE : English
SERIAL : 14936
PAGES : 302-310
ONLINE_PUBLICATION : no
VERSION : 1
FIRST_AUTHOR_ADDRESS : Pielke, R (reprint author), Univ Colorado, Ctr Sci & Technol Policy Res, 1333 Grandview Ave,Campus Box 488, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
AUTHOR_OTHER_FORM : Pielke, Roger, Jr.
REFERENCES_NUM : 13
REFERENCE : Adger W. N., 2003, Progress in Development Studies, V3, P179, DOI 10.1191/1464993403ps060oa; Association of British Insurers (ABI), 2005, FIN RISKS CLIM CHANG; HOPPE P, 2006, FIN WORKSH REP 25 26; Lorenzoni I, 2000, GLOBAL ENVIRON CHANG, V10, P57, DOI 10.1016/S0959-3780(00)00012-1; MUIRWOOD R, 2006, FIN WORKSH REP 25 26; NORDHAUS WD, 2006, SNOWM WORKSH ABR CAT; Pielke Jr RA, 2007, HONEST BROKER MAKING; Pielke R, 2007, NATURE, V445, P597, DOI 10.1038/445597a; Pielke RA, 2005, POPUL ENVIRON, V26, P255, DOI 10.1007/s11111-005-1877-6; Pielke RA, 2005, SCIENCE, V310, P1615; PIELKE RA, IN PRESS PHILOS T RO; Sarewitz D, 2004, ENVIRON SCI POLICY, V7, P385, DOI 10.1016/j.envsci.2004.06.001; Stern N., 2007, EC CLIMATE CHANGE ST
PUBLISHER_ADDRESS : THE BOULEVARD, LANGFORD LANE, KIDLINGTON, OXFORD OX5 1GB, OXON, ENGLAND
COUNT : 1
Entered by : Roger Pielke Jr.